Resident Evil: Origins
by Chase Samson
Summary: The fateful night in the Arklay Mountains.  The night when the real nightmare began.  Chris Redfield and the S.T.A.R.S. team embark on a crusade to battle the unknown.  An insider view from Chris Redfield's POV on what took place.  How did he survive?


Author's Note: (Disclaimer) I do not own the characters nor the franchise of CAPCOM's Resident Evil series. I am simply using them as medium for some fun writing. It would be awesome to get paid, but it's so much fun writing Resident Evil stuff. Anyway, this first in a series of works revolves around the original game's protagonist, Chris Redfield. Written from his POV, we get an insider's look reflecting on the events of that night as well as some character insight on Chris as well. Please feel to review and leave your comments and/or criticisms. This work will be given a "M" for mature due to strong language. Enjoy!

Resident Evil: Origins

There was nothing more irritating to me than to sit at my desk and watch Barry gawk at his magnum and talk to it as if it were a woman. He was really a good, all-around guy, but sometimes, he just rubbed me the wrong the way. It got to the point where he would ask me for suggestions for names for his weapons. "Shirley", a .44 Magnum, was his favorite. Over time, I learned to just tune him out and stay focused on work.

I rested my feet up on my desk, trying hard to work the cramp out of my calf as I awaited Jill to return to the office with my coffee and egg sandwich. She wasn't thrilled about going, but she had to learn a valuable lesson: Never try to cheat in a card game when Forest is playing. He never lets anything go.

Looking over my shoulder, I stole a quick glance at Albert Wesker, Captain of S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team. From the little that I knew about our commanding officer, he was pretty new to Raccoon City. There was something about him that I truly admired. I didn't know whether it was his cool confidence or the fact that it seemed that he can see in total darkness…with shades on. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen him without them.

The clock on my desk read 9:33 AM, but it felt more like 5:30. I was barely able to keep my eyes open.

That was before I got the crap scared out of me by a hot cup of coffee that half spilled in my lap.

I shot up from my seat at the instant feel of the hot black liquid, scolding my thigh. Jill, with those innocent looking blue eyes, tried diligently to stifle a giggle.

"Oops," she said, putting her hand to her mouth in mock apology, "I thought you were asleep."

"Very funny, Jill." I looked at her hand and saw nothing else in it. "Hey, where's my egg sandwich?"

Her eyebrow raised in feigned surprise. "Oh, about that." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she averted her gaze from me. "Well, I kind of dropped it and before I could get a chance to pick it up, one of the K-9s ate it. Sorry."

"Either you must think you're really smart or that I'm a total idiot," I said with a small smile. "Seriously…where is it?"

She said nothing.

"Jill!"

"Okay, okay, okay," she said. "As I was coming back into the station, Marvin snatched it from me when my back was turned and he ran into his office with it, I swear. You know the door to his office needs a key card…one that neither of us have."

"Ugh, that guy is such a pain in the ass! Always goofing off," I said, absently. "I haven't eaten since lunch, yesterday."

"I'll tell you what," she said as she circled around to her desk and sat down. "After we're done here, I'll get you something to eat…but you've got to tell Speyer that I didn't cheat in poker! You're the only one he'll believe."

I burst out laughing. Jill was seriously trying to strike a deal with me to not have to buy us breakfast anymore. She had a lot to learn.

"I'll let my stomach think about."

I raised the cup of coffee to my lips and she threw the receipt at my temple. I could feel Jill's eyes burning at the side of my head, but I just ignored her for the time being and sipped on my lukewarm brew.

The day was uneventful for as long as I could bear. Pangs of hunger shot through my body, and it was becoming harder to concentrate on anything. Barry had long since gone home and Jill was typing a report on her computer. Wesker, as stiff and quiet as a piece of wood, sat at his desk, going through some files that he stashed away in desk. One thing about the Captain: the guy was thorough. His desk was always the neatest and nothing, not even a paper clip, was ever out of place. I wondered sometimes where the hell he came from, but for some reason, I felt wary about ever asking.

As much as I respect him, the guy gave me the creeps.

It was coming up on 5:30 in the evening and I still hadn't eaten for the day. Joseph, eating beans and rice with gravy smothered pork chops in my face, didn't help matters, either. I wanted nothing more, even if for a moment, then to kick his ass and eat his meal. Hunger had a strange way of putting certain things into a perspective that weren't real.

"Chris," I heard Wesker's militant voice call out to me. "You look like you can use a breather. You can leave early if you're tired."

"That's all right. I'll finish out my time and then go home."

Wesker nodded and went back to his files. I must really have looked like hell if even he took the time to notice I looked out of whack.

Jill finished putting the finishing touches on her report and printed them out on the printer/fax near the door.

I hated that damn machine.

It scared the crap out of me every timed it beeped. For the most part, the S.T.A.R.S. office was usually quiet because the Bravo and Alpha teams were hardly ever there at the same time. Jill lightly jogged over to the machine and pulled her paperwork out, neatly stapling the loose sheets together. Wesker looked up from the files in his hands to find Jill standing at the edge of his desk, only to watch her rest her archived work on it.

"That's all the paper work from the Hyde Street shootings, Captain."

"Good work, Jill," Wesker said in an unassuming tone. "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

"Yes, Captain."

Returning to her desk, I watched Jill cram all of her loose belongings into her fanny pack. Everything, from Chap Stick and eyeliner to a pack of stale Juicy Fruit chewing gum. Her gun holster was hanging from the coatrack behind her desk. As she took it down, she inspected her special issued S.T.A.R.S. 9mm Beretta. Making sure that the safety was on, she strapped her holster on and walked toward the door.

"It's a little late for lunch now, but you can come by later for dinner if you want," she offered.

I sighed. I wanted nothing more than to eat, but I didn't want to get too cozy with Jill and everyone on the squad know about it. Especially not Forest. He never lets anything go.

I'd be fooling myself if I turned her offer down. It wasn't as if I could cook worth a damn.

"Sure. I'll come by around 7:00."

"See you then." Without another word, Jill was gone and I was alone now with Wesker. He didn't so much as glance at Jill as she left, but I couldn't really be certain since I couldn't see his eyes behind those dark shades.

I had waited all day for this moment. I hit the save button on my computer and then printed out my paperwork. It shouldn't have taken me all this time to do it, but today, I just really felt like I was made of oatmeal. As I was printing out my documents, I couldn't help but notice that Wesker didn't look the least bit tired. If anything, he looked to be getting more into whatever he was looking at. I was too tired to mention my observation, so I stapled my work together and laid it on his desk. He looked at me for only the briefest of instants before glancing back down at his work.

I took that as my cue to leave.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I grabbed my jacket, which was sitting loosely on my chair. I threw it over my shoulders, stretched my legs out a bit and walked to the door. As I pulled it open, a grim face was looking right at me. I had a hard time trying to squeeze around the mountain of a man that was suddenly in my way.

"Where are you rushing off to, Redfield?"

"No where, sir. I just wasn't expecting you to be on the other side of that door."

"I'm only messing with you, Redfield. Relax a little," Chief Irons said as he patted my shoulder with his hand. His grim face was instantly replaced with a confident smirk as he stepped further in the S.T.A.R.S. office. My guess was that there was something that he wanted to discuss with Captain Wesker.

Chief Brian Irons was the most decorated officer in Raccoon City. Not only was he a great cop, he was also one of the most influential philanthropists in the city. I had to admit that his strange fascination with taxidermy was a bit disconcerting, but I didn't really think much about it. It wasn't as if I had to answer to him anyway.

Rather than walking all the way through the West Wing, I took a shortcut through the office of Marvin Branaugh. As I made my way past the weapons room, I located Branaugh, half asleep at his desk with a box of donuts, half eaten.

"Hey, Branaugh!" I yelled, startling the slumbering cop. He snapped his head up as if he had a firecracker in his throat.

"Redfield, you scared me, man," he said irritably. Branaugh rubbed tiredly at his eyes as he evened his posture. "I just had the weirdest dream."

"Oh yeah?" I said as if I were interested. "It couldn't be any weirder than that catastrophe you call a haircut."

"Haha, I didn't know you honchos in S.T.A.R.S. had any sense of humor," he said as he ran a hand over his high top fade.

"We're more than just hired guns, you know," I said. "So what was your dream about?"

"I dreamt that the world had ended. The whole place was overrun with zombies and scary creatures."

To that, I could do nothing but smack my forehead with an open palm. "I can't get the time I wasted listening to you back, Branaugh. It's bad enough you ate my damn sandwich this morning. And now, you talk to me about zombies and the end of the world? You need to stop eating those damn donuts. I think the sugar is getting to your head."

"I'm serious, Chris. It felt so real!" he said, trying to plead his case.

"Good night, Branaugh. I'll see you in the morning."

He scowled at me, but didn't say anything. I always got a kick out him whenever we quipped. Being one of the few African-American citizens of Raccoon City, he was only one two black officers in the R.P.D.. The other was Jonathan Buckley, a rookie cop with some kind of strange, Caribbean accent that I always had a hard time understanding, especially when he started getting excited. At first, I thought that he was slightly retarded, but then it dawned on me that he really just talked that way.

I left of out of Branaugh's office and into the main hall. I always thought that the R.P.D. station looked a lot more like a museum than it did a police station. Chief Irons made it his business to furnish the building with all kinds of paintings and statues. Wesker hated the fact that Irons did that. He was the only person that I'd seen openly oppose the Chief. That cool confidence carried him a long way.

The sun had just set and I took in a mouthful of fresh air, relieved to finally be outside after so much time cooped up at my desk. The air was suffused with the smell of summer grass and pollen. Most times, the pollen irritated my nose, but today, it didn't bother me. As I got into my car to drive to Jill's apartment, I couldn't help but think of what Marvin told me before I left the building. I knew it was just a dream, but what if the end of the world really was coming? What would I do? I had no idea how to even answer these questions. The scariest part was the fact I was even thinking them.

Could Branaugh really be on to something?

Jill's idea of dinner was Hamburger Helper and three day old mashed potatoes. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it certainly would do. My stomach was doing jumping jacks during the drive over, so I wasn't really in any position to complain.

Her apartment, although small, was extremely comfortable. Her plush couches always made me feel at home. She turned on the TV while we ate. There wasn't really much to discuss. We were both tired and knew we would have another day at the office, probably having to listen to another one of Barry's wild gun stories, or listen to that crap that Joseph liked to call music, booming from his little radio.

"You want a beer, Chris?" Jill asked me as she walked over to the fridge.

"Sure. I could use one after the kind of day I had."

"You and I both," she agreed.

There wasn't anything of interest on the news that I felt was newsworthy. It seemed like every night, I was hearing a story about a cat that can jet ski or how some rich couple bought a house in L.A. for their spoiled kids. I was just about to mute the TV to talk to Jill a bit when I heard Anna Montoya's voice. In all actuality, she was the main reason why I watched the news to begin with.

There was a certain sex appeal about her sheer professionalism that I loved. I wasn't sure if it was the little glasses or her toothy smile. Either one could made me melt. However, there was something disturbing that hung in her voice, like a foul odor. I turned the volume to listen in on the broadcast.

"It has been confirmed that Daniel Shaw, 37, reported missing since last Friday, was found dead in the outskirts of Raccoon City, in the Arklay Mountain region. He joins a list of victims who have reportedly been attacked by an unknown predator. The victims appear to…to have been eaten. There have been no leads to this point. The Raccoon City Police Department will be investigating the recent rash of strange reports from the mountains. As a precaution, Mayor Warren has advised that all citizens steer clear of the Arklay Mountain region until the investigation has been completed. Until next time, this is Anna Montoya and you are watching RNN News 7."

Not even Anna's trademark smile could shake the numbness I felt at the moment. I wanted to believe that my ears were deceiving me, but the look on Jill's face threw that notion out the window.

There was a frank coldness that seemed to flow through Jill's apartment, as we both shared looks of fear and confusion.

"That did not sound good at all," she commented. She sat up on her couch, lodging her knees underneath her chin as she rocked back and forth. "What the hell kind of shit is going on up there in the mountains?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," I said. "How much do you want to bet that we're going to have to investigate these strange murders?"

"I'll bet my badge."

The murders at the Arklay Mountains weren't anything new to us. For the most part, Wesker insisted that the R.P.D. handle the matter. For all I knew, it could have just been some sick fuck, lurking around in Raccoon Forest, just waiting around to attack and kill unsuspecting people.

That's what I wanted to believe, anyway.

I pulled my hand off the sweating bottle of beer, suddenly not wanting to drink it anymore. Jill pushed hers to the side, because now, we knew for sure that we'd have to go into the outskirts of the city to investigate.

I hated the strange cases.

2

My answering machine kept beeping, but I just refused to check on it. I was dreading having to go into the office today. Not only were Wednesdays the longest day there, but also those were the days where more members of the Bravo team were in. Waking up and rubbing the dried coals from the corners of my eyes, I stretched my arms over my head until I felt a good pop in them. Swinging my legs off the bed, I walked over to my answering machine and pressed the flashing red button that indicated I had a new message:

"Hey, Chris! It's me, Claire. I just wanted to let you know that I just got accepted to NYU! I'm so excited! I've never been to New York before and this is going to be one helluva a good time, bro. I know with you working all the time back home, we couldn't really hang out like we used to. So I was thinking that before school starts, that I'd come and see you for a weekend. I'm telling you well in advance, so no excuses! Besides, mom and dad are tired of me swinging the knife you gave me around in the house. A little peace and quiet for them before I leave off for school would do them good, so I'll be your problem for a couple of days. Please, call me when you get the chance, bro. I miss you. Talk to you later!"

If there was anything that could brighten my day, it was the emphatic voice of my younger sister, Claire. Although we were a few of years apart, everyone thought she was my twin sister. Claire grew up faster than most girls her age. Not having too many female friends actually benefited her. She wasn't one of those prissy, girly girls, as my dad would say ,but, my mother didn't like that Claire was up under me, all the time. She was afraid that Claire would either follow in my footsteps or become a lesbian. Regardless of what my mother thought, I loved when Claire was around, even if she was being annoying. After helping my parents move to New Jersey six months ago, I hadn't really seen them or Claire too much within that time. Whenever I tried to take time off to see them, I was always dealt a mission or investigation to do.

Duty calls.

After I staved off the urge to just put a bullet through my head, sitting in the office, I would call her back when I returned home later that evening.

I made sure I bought my own breakfast this morning, keeping an eye out for Branaugh, who was always scouring the halls like some kind of food predator, just waiting to snatch up someone's food, like it was something to do.

Why doesn't that guy ever do any real police work?

Upon entering the S.T.A.R.S. office, I noticed that Enrico Marini, Captain of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team, and Richard Aiken, our communications expert, were sitting on the edge of Jill's desk, talking with her. The office wasn't big enough for everyone to have their own desk, which was another reason I hated Wednesdays: It was just too damn crowded.

Looking over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening and closing, Enrico dropped down from the desk and walked toward me. As a former war veteran, I had nothing but respect for Enrico. He always had a great sense of humor, unlike my captain.

"Good morning, Chris," he said in a burly voice that seemed only a man with his imposing physique could muster. "Ready for today's action?"

"Action? What are you talking about?" I asked him as I took a bite into my egg sandwich.

"I know you saw the news last night. All of those strange killings in the Arklay Mountains doesn't ring any bells?"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Yeah, don't remind me. You know I hate the weird ones."

"You don't have to worry too much," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Bravo team is deploying in an hour to check it out. I don't think we'll find anything though. Probably just some loon, walking around with a hacksaw."

I really wished that were it, but I felt that there was more going on out there.

"Yeah. Probably," I said.

Richard swung his legs off from Jill's desk, almost kicking her in the face in the process. How this clumsy guy ever made it to S.T.A.R.S. is beyond me. Next to Kenneth Sullivan, S.T.A.R.S. oldest member, Richard had to be the second worst shot I'd ever seen. Aiken couldn't hit the water if he fell out of a boat ,but I guess having a shotgun as his main weapon of choice helped to alleviate that problem. He spryly hopped his way over to where Enrico and I were standing.

"Yeah, Chris. I don't think we'll find anything. Mayor Warren just wants the people to feel safe."

"There's nothing safe about what's going on up there," I said. "People are dying and we have to find out how."

"Chris is right," said Enrico. "Until we know for sure what's going on up there, we must consider this a serious matter."

I heard Jill scoff at her desk. "You guys should take Wesker with you. For once, I'd like to see that guy show a little emotion. He never smiles and he never looks afraid," she said. Her eyes rolled over to me. "Remember that time during the Hyde Street shootings and that young kid pulled a gun to his head?"

"Yeah," I said, thinking back to the moment. "He didn't even flinch."

"And that freaked the kid out!"

"Wesker has always had that mysterious nature about him. He never seems to let anything rattle him, but, he's a great leader and he makes sure we're always prepared."

"I know, I know," Jill said in a breathless sigh. "It's just sometimes, it feels like he isn't even human."

I chuckled at Jill's comments. Mainly because the same thought had crossed my mind once or twice.

The door to our office door swung open and much to my chagrin, Forest Speyer came into the office.

I knew he was my teammate, but I really found him to be annoying. His competitive nature was only surpassed by his massive ego. Considering himself the best marksman in S.T.A.R.S., he always tried to make everything between us a contest.

Twirling a knife in his hand, he said, "Mornin', Redfield. Lookin' to join us up there in Arklay?"

"I thought I would be, but it seems it's Bravo team's mission."

"That sounds about right, don't ya think? After all, Mayor Warren wants the best of the best to handle this."

I suppressed the urge to blast his nose off with my fist.

"Ugh, get a life, Speyer," Jill interjected. I turned to look at her and found that her face was as sour as her voice sounded. "Why are you always trying to measure your own dick all the time?"

There was laughter throughout the office. Enrico was laughing the hardest.

"Mind your business, Valentine. Don't ya see two men talking here?" he spat angrily.

"I'll remember to keep my mouth shut when I actually see two men talking," she said. "Right now, all I see is Chris and a queer with a knife."

Enrico's belly laugh made the floor vibrate. I'd never seen him laugh so hard. Richard was laughing his ass off too, rolling along on the floor. The banter between Forest and Jill never got old.

Jill totally had Forest's number today.

He slipped his knife back into its sheath, shooting Jill with a murderous stare. Forest then went into the weapons locker and pulled out his grenade launcher. Taking the weapon by the strap, he hooked it over his shoulder and made his way to the door, brushing past me hard.

"I don't have time for this shit," he said. "Unlike you Alpha team losers, I have work to do."

Forest stormed out of the door and slammed it hard behind him. His hot temper was well documented, but he really hated it when Jill got the best of him.

"Now why did you have to get his panties all tied up in a bunch, Valentine?" Enrico said with a big grin on his face. "You know Forest is sensitive."

"He just gets on my nerves, you know? Always messing with everybody like he's some kind of big shot."

Enrico glanced at his watched and his thick eyebrows shot straight up. He nudged Richard in his side before looking up at me. "We have to report to Chief Irons before getting on the chopper. We'll see you guys when we get back." To Aiken, he said, "Come on Richard, let's go!"

The two Bravo members made a fast exit for the door, leaving just Jill and me in the office. Even though Wesker wasn't present, we both knew he was in the building.

It seemed as if he was always here.

I took a seat at my desk and finished the rest of my breakfast. After downing the last sip of my coffee, the door to the office swung open and again, and for a second, I thought some kid got lost, wandering around in the police station. That was until I saw the S.T.A.R.S. motif, stitched into the sleeve of this kid's shirt.

"Hi," she said shyly. "This is the S.T.A.R.S. office, right?"

"The one and only," I said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rebecca. Rebecca Chambers. I just joined the team on Monday. Today is my first day on duty."

"No one told us about any new recruits," Jill added. "Were you assigned a particular unit?"

Rebecca dug into her pockets, fishing out a yellow piece of paper with unreadable writing on it.

I'd seen those things a million times.

Linda, the receptionist in the main hall, had to have the worst handwriting in Raccoon City. Rebecca peered thoughtfully at the slip of paper, before she found what she was looking for.

"I'm not sure, but I think this says S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team," she said, scratching the back of her head. "Are you two part of Bravo team?"

"No," I said with a small chuckle. "If you're looking for Bravo team, you just missed them. Maybe you can catch them on the roof by the helicopter."

Her face brightened up as she smiled at me. "Thank you…wait…I didn't get your name."

"My name is Chris Redfield. That's Jill Valentine. We are part of the Alpha team."

"Oh cool!" she said emphatically.

Jill sat up from her desk to stretch her legs. "I'll show you the way to the roof. I need to get some blood pumping in these legs of mine anyway."

"Thank you, Jill," Rebecca said. She turned back to face me and smiled again. "I'll see you later, Chris."

"Later, kiddo."

In many ways, Rebecca reminded me so much of Claire. Young, devoted to her craft and yet, so free and unabated by the "norms". My guess was that Rebecca was no older than 18, even though she looked like she was 11. If she made it into S.T.A.R.S., she had to have some kind of value.

Being alone in the office, I opened the bottom most drawer of my desk and pulled out a small green journal that I used to jot down my thoughts. There was no way I was going to let anyone see me writing in it and I only did so when at the office. It wasn't often I was alone in the office, but when it did happen, I took a few moments to let my thoughts fly across the paper. Maybe that way, they would make more sense to me.

Reaching across my desk, I plucked a black ink, BIC pen from my holder and started writing:

"I don't know why I've been stressing out about these strange murders, lately. For the most part, Raccoon City was a quiet little town, with no major issues. Ever since that Umbrella Company started to flourish, things have just been getting weirder and weirder.

People in high places, suddenly disappearing.

The grisly murders.

The inordinate amount of money that Chief Irons spends on the police station. I mean seriously, where the fuck does that guy get the money for all this shit? I know he makes a great salary, but these paintings are all originals. I know for sure he can't afford them.

"I guess the timing of it all is what's most disturbing. I haven't seen my family in six months and I feel lonely here in Raccoon City. My job with S.T.A.R.S. is the only thing keeping from just leaving. The pay is good and it's not too stressful. Aside from dealing with Forest, I actually like my teammates. Even Wesker could be pretty cool when he wasn't being downright creepy. The one constant I've had has been the off-hours times I've spent with Jill. Although there's nothing going on between us, sometimes I wonder if we could share a relationship that went beyond S.T.A.R.S.. Beyond friendship. But with all the craziness going on with these murders in the mountains, now isn't the time to press matters. Maybe when things die down a little, I'll ease it into a conversation somehow and see how she reacts. So many thoughts, so little time to process them…

Maybe when Claire comes to town, she can help me put things into perspective. My sister has always been good for that. I can't wait to-,"

I nearly jumped out of my seat when the door opened. I fumbled the journal and stuffed it back into my desk drawer before Barry strolled in, with Brad Vickers right behind him.

"Morning, Chris," Barry said as he immediately took a seat at his desk. Like clockwork, he unholstered that cannon he called a handgun and laid it across his desk, ready to clean it. "Where is everybody?"

"Bravo team's been sent out to investigate the Arklay killings," I said. "I don't know where Joseph is. Wesker is probably in the library and Jill is escorting the new girl to the roof so she can go with the Bravo team."

Brad slithered his way across the office to my desk, leaning his bony ass on the edge. "Is she cute?" he asked me, running a shaky hand through his moppy, auburn hair.

"Why does that matter, Chickenheart? She wouldn't talk to you anyway. You're such a coward, it's disgusting."

If there was ever a surefire way to piss Brad off, it was calling him Chickenheart. He hated that name, but he deserved it. Too many times did he leave us in a gunfight or left us stranded by flying the helicopter because he was too afraid of being hurt, or being killed. Wesker insisted that he remain in the unit simply because he was a good pilot and it would cost the R.P.D. too much money to replace him.

"Come on, Chris. That shit is getting old now."

"When you start to show some balls, I'll stop calling you Chickenheart. Until then, that's what your name is in my mind."

Brad crossed his arms in front of his small chest and huffed. He walked over to the communications port and sat on the beaten up, leather chair. The wheels squeaked every time anyone sat in it.

"I think I know about the new girl," Barry chipped in. "She was here on Monday to certify her training. Her name is…is…Chambers, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Rebecca Chambers."

"She's our new medic. Ever since Jackie retired, we haven't had anyone to cover that spot."

"Maybe we can get a new pilot too. One that doesn't always run at the first sign of danger," I said to Barry, tilting my head towards Brad.

He laughed a little, but went back to his massive gun. Jill returned to the office, a fresh cup of coffee in her hand. After saying her hellos to Brad and Barry, she came over to my desk and placed the cup on it.

"This is to make up for yesterday."

"Thanks," I said. "You didn't have to, though."

"I figured since I spilled most of your coffee, I should get you a whole cup this time."

"Thanks."

She smiled and turned to head toward her desk. I watched how her uniform hugged tightly on her curves and just as quickly pushed the thoughts out of my head. Those feelings were becoming more intense the more I was around her. If I had to sit there and watch her smile at me all day, then it would indeed be a long day.

Eating lunch at Emmy's was a regular routine for us. Joseph, Jill, Brad, Barry and myself, ate here every Wednesday. Wesker never ate lunch with us, which only added fuel to the speculation that he was some kind of robot. This week, Joseph wasn't with us. It wasn't like him to miss out on lunch, especially not at R.P.D.'s expense. As I took the last bite of my triple-decker cheeseburger, I heard Stefanie, the manager of Emmy's, call my name through the ruckus of the diner.

"Chris! You've got a phone call. Some guy named Whiskers or something?"

I couldn't help but laugh. With all the noise in the diner, it was easy for her to make that mistake. I excused myself from the table and went to phone.

Law enforcement got special perks in Raccoon City.

She handed me the phone and moved to get someone's order. I put the phone to my ear to answer Wesker's call.

"Yes, Captain Wesker?"

"Chris, I need you and the others to report back to the station, immediately."

"Is everything all right?" I couldn't really tell because Wesker never spoke with any emotion.

"I'll debrief you on the matters upon your arrival."

"Okay, sir. We'll be right there."

I hung up the phone, not knowing what to think. It had to be serious if Wesker called me on my lunch hour. I treaded back to the table where Brad, Jill and Barry were seated.

"That was Wesker. He said we have to come back now."

Jill took a sip of her diet Coke before opening her mouth. "Did he say what for?"

"Does he ever?" I said. "Let's just go."

"Fine," she replied. She wrapped up what was left of her chicken sandwich and carried her soda in the other hand. Brad and Barry had long since finished and were ready to go anyway. "He's probably calling us in to finally tell us that he's a robot from the future."

If that was all that he would say, it couldn't have been any worse than what I actually feared.

"What do you mean they crashed?" said Barry. He balled up his massive fists and slammed them together in anger.

"Bravo team's helicopter suffered a mechanical failure and were forced to make an emergency landing in the Raccoon Forest," Wesker said in an even tone. "It was the final transmission I received before I lost contact. We must go in to investigate."

"Wait a minute. You mean like right now?" Jill asked.

"Exactly. Our comrades could be in possible danger. We need to assist them in any way we can."

I looked up at the clock and it was 7:45 PM. It was already dark out and Raccoon Forest certainly was no picnic area when the sun set. Maybe a little action could do us all some good. "It's dark out, so if we're going to find them, we should get going sooner than later."

Before anyone could utter a response, Joseph burst into the office, seemingly winded. My guess was that he ran here from home when he got the call from Wesker.

"Nice of you to join us, Joseph," said Wesker. "Where have you been all day?"

"I was running some errands for my uncle. He's really been sick the past couple of days. I'm sorry for not calling earlier."

"You don't have to apologize to me. Your other teammates though…"

"It's no big deal," I said. "Let's get on with this."

"Very well," Wesker replied. "We will deploy for the Arklay Mountains in one hour."

"Wait…what?" said a confused Joseph.

I walked over to him and put an arm around his shoulder. "Get your gear ready, Frost. I'll fill you in on the details, on the way."

3

After filling Frost in on the details of our mission, he became focused on the task at hand. He seemed down that his uncle was sick. Jeffrey Frost looked after Joseph when his parents were killed in a plane crash, 15 years ago. He raised him like his own son.

Making an earnest living at the Umbrella Plant that opened up Downtown 10 years ago, Jeffrey provided for Joseph as best he could. So I could only imagine that after all these years, Joseph felt a sense of duty when it came to his uncle.

Wesker sat up in the cockpit with Brad as we flew over the darkness that was Raccoon Forest. I could barely see anything down below. The only thoughts going on in my head were the helpless victims killed here. If there indeed was a killer on the loose, I made it my duty to bring the son of a bitch to justice.

Dead or alive.

For about an hour, we circled around the forest, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Jill's voice alerted everyone to something we all missed.

"Look! Over there!" she pointed about 100 meters to our right. "There it is!"

We all glanced over to the spot shadowed by our light and found the Bravo team's helicopter.

"Take us down," Wesker ordered Brad.

"Yes, sir."

Brad hovered the helicopter over the ruins of the other before slowly descending. Once we were low enough, one by one, we hopped out and landed on the ground below. For a hot July night, it felt a lot cooler than it did in the city. Not having to swat at any flies was great, considering that there were plenty of them in the city. To my dismay, there was a disturbing smell that floated in the cool, night air that invaded my nostrils.

A smell like a rotted pig.

I immediately took out my flashlight and shined it on the helicopter's remains. Inside was a derelict. The radio had been destroyed and there was no way this bird could fly again. Although there were no bodies inside, the sight of something unusual caught my attention. As I stepped further inside the helicopter, there were some strange markings on the chassis.

Something like claw marks.

What could have made marks like that? I wasn't any type of animal expert, but they looked like the claw marks of a dog.

A very big dog.

I climbed out of the helicopter and looked over at my comrades who were surveying the surrounding area.

"All right, everyone listen up," Wesker said in his usual even tone. "It appears that even though the helicopter is in ruin, there are no bodies. The Bravo team must still be alive somewhere. Let's split up and begin our search."

Everyone nodded their heads and went their separate ways.

The visibility in the forest wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The full moon shining up above created a luminary backdrop that I would have appreciated had it not been the nature of why I was here to begin with. My stomach started to knot up again, telling me to put more food in it. I instantly thought about Claire and how I meant to call her back tonight. The thought slipped my mind after I had got caught up with finding the Bravo team. I kept my radio on, even though the sound of static was annoying. I needed to be able to hear everything that I was unable to see.

I stepped in what I thought was mud, but when I inspected my boot, it was a humongous, decaying mushroom. It had become excessively slimy from decomposition and smelled awful. I could actually taste the decay in mouth and I vainly spit on the ground, trying to get it out.

Bang!

I thought my ears were playing tricks on me.

Bang!

I heard it again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

No way I could be hallucinating. I moved quickly towards what sounded like gunshots. Brushing leaves, branches and bushes out of my way, I found myself in an open clearing, looking straight ahead.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Joseph was down on the ground, unmoving. As dead as a doornail.

The crazy part was looking at a glimmering, slimy shadow of some type of…creature, on top of him. I squinted my eyes and was shaken by the sight of this creature ripping large chunks of flesh from Joseph's dead chest. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Jill, pulling back on the trigger of her 92F Beretta.

Only problem was the gun was locked on empty.

Her body language indicated to me that she was frozen in fear. After witnessing what I saw, I couldn't blame her.

Then everything that was bad suddenly got worse.

The thick cover of darkness that the trees provided did nothing to hide more of these strange creatures that suddenly appeared. They all looked exactly like the first.

Missing patches of skin.

Slimy bodies.

Driblets of blood, simmering down their monstrous fangs.

It wasn't until I saw one of these things dart at impossible speed toward Jill that I got a better look at it.

I was no dog whiz, but I knew a Doberman Pinscher when I saw one. Only that these Pinschers looked…dead.

I couldn't understand how that was even possible. All the missing patches of skin and slimy coat were all facilitators of death and corrosion, but these creatures were as spry as they were fearsome.

Unable to run, Jill collapsed to the ground.

I had to make a move.

The decrepit Doberman was just 20 meters away from her, gaining speed and momentum with every gallop. I watched Jill as I too tried to get closer to her and she looked resigned to her fate when in an instant, the monstrous dog leapt at her.

Without even thinking, I whipped out my Beretta, lined up the sight, pulled back on the trigger, and slammed a 9mm round, right between the dog's eyes. It fell to the ground like a sack of wet towels.

If it wasn't dead before, it sure as hell had to be now. I quickly grabbed Jill by her arm, who was startled, yet relieved to find me standing over her.

"Come on!" I said as I pushed her in front of me. We took off running in the opposite direction from the hellhounds. When I looked back, they were right on our asses. I could have sworn we had a good enough head start on the sinister quadrupeds to make a getaway. Each time I glanced back, their numbers seemed to be growing. This was a bad time for my legs to start giving way. Running through the uneven terrain of Raccoon Forest was a triathlon compared to the concrete pavements of Raccoon City. I cursed myself for being so out of shape. If I made it out of this alive, no more egg sandwiches and triple-deckers with cheese for me.

Right now, things weren't looking good.

The closest dog was just about five meters behind me and I could feel its presence gaining. I tripped over something hidden in the ground and crashed right into Jill, causing us to both fall. I looked back and found the decaying dog, inches away from my face before something whizzed past my ear like an annoying bee. Small drops of blood sprinkled on my vest and shirt, but it wasn't mine. The dog was on the ground, dead. Blood oozed from a perfectly executed headshot. I looked back behind me and saw Wesker standing on top of a small hill with his Beretta in one hand and the flashlight in the other.

"Chris, this way!" he said. Despite what was happening, his voice was as cool and confident as always.

How in the world did he make that shot, in the dark, with shades on?

I helped Jill off the ground. The look on her face told me that she was still pretty shaken. We followed Wesker and met up with Barry, who just brutally killed about six of those things with that blaster of his. I searched around for Brad, but when I looked up and saw the helicopter flying away, I knew Brad was up to the same old shit.

Can't ever count on him when you need him. The pussy.

"Are you guys all right?" asked a concerned Barry. For all his big man bravado, Barry was really a good guy with an even bigger heart. I knew he cared about us.

Wesker moved quickly behind us. "Keep moving."

This was certainly not the time to argue with the Captain.

I kept running forward, occasionally firing back at the dogs that were still chasing us. It was much harder to get a good shot off while running. Barry and Wesker made it look so easy. Up ahead, at the top of a gigantic hill, was an even bigger house.

Not a house, but a mansion.

I hadn't even known there was a mansion out here in the Arklay Mountains. Or that anyone lived here, for that matter. I kept running, pumping my legs forward as the mansion came into better view. The dogs were gaining on us and were just a football field's length away.

Just a little bit more.

I turned back to glimpse how close the undead mutts were when I slammed my hand into the trunk of a tree. My gun disappeared into the darkness of the earth. I ignored my lost weapon as I ran up on the huge wooden door of the mansion.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the door unlocked and I pushed the heavy oak door open enough for everyone to slip inside. Jill came through, followed by Wesker.

There was no sign of Barry.

I wanted to wait to see if he would show up, but the dogs were too close to take the chance. I slammed it shut, just as one of the mutts jumped for the closing path. Its head was stuck between the door and the frame, but it continued snap at me violently, trying to force its way inside. Wesker came from behind me and threw his weight into the door, snapping the neck of the raging demon dog. He then kicked the dog's body back outside and I slammed the door shut, locking it with all available locks.

My arm was thumping from when I railed it against the tree outside. It was a bit swollen, but wasn't anything that would keep me from using it.

"What the hell were those things?" asked a frightened Jill.

As much as I wanted to provide Jill an answer, I knew that I couldn't. I was still high off my adrenaline rush. I doubted numerous times to myself that what I was seeing was real. Half-dead dogs, chasing us with mortifying bloodlust, coursing through their eyes. The large expanse of the mansion really took me by storm. As big as it looked on the outside, it wasn't until I got inside that I realized that this place was fucking huge. Just this lobby alone had a bunch of doors. Doors that I'm sure led to other doors.

"Please remain calm, Jill. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this," Wesker answered. There was nothing reassuring about his tone of voice.

"Remain calm?" she said, incredulously. "Those fucking things killed Joseph and you talk about remaining calm? Fuck you, Wesker!"

"Jill, take it easy!" I said reassuringly. "It isn't Wesker's fault this happened. How were we supposed to know that this place was crawling with strange creatures?"

"If those things killed Joseph, I can only imagine what's happened to everyone else from Bravo team."

"There wasn't any sign of them out there aside from the busted bird," I replied. "Maybe they made it in here. It could be why the door wasn't locked."

She opened her mouth to say something, but the three of us turned to face the large doubled doors to our left when he heard a familiar sound.

A gunshot.

Wesker coolly drew his weapon from his holster and aimed it at the door. I placed my hand on his outstretched arm, fixing him with an even look. "I'll go check it out."

"All right," he said. "Jill and I will secure the area."

I didn't expect him to concede so quickly, but maybe for once, Wesker was scared.

I moved closer to the door and reached for the knob to test it.

It was conveniently unlocked.

"Chris," I heard Jill say. I turned around to face her. "Be careful."

I gave her reassuring smile and a thumbs up before I opened the door in front of me. Little did I know that my worst nightmare was just beginning.

4

The door from which I heard the gunshot come behind from was lighter than the front door. Entering the room, I was taken aback by the impossibly long dinner table, just a few feet from where I stood. It was caked in a thick layer of dust and grime.

Apparently, no one has eaten here for quite some time. The dining room itself was incredibly spacious. There was more than enough room to get a full-court basketball game going. Venturing further inside, I tried to push the sound of the giant grandfather clock that on the wall. The supposedly soothing sound of the internal components did little to calm my nerves. I continued towards the back when the heat of a lit fireplace caught my attention.

If this place was as abandoned as it looked, how was it lit? It surely didn't light itself. Perhaps someone from Bravo team did it when they got inside. It was the only, logical thing I could think of. Almost unseen by the flickering flames, was a pool of blood, right in front of the fireplace. I knelt down to inspect it. It wasn't fresh, which was about as much of a relief I was getting in a place like this. In the corner of my eye, I saw another door. This one was far more ordinary in appearance than the ones in the main hall. I got back to my feet and moved towards it. I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the worst.

As I turned the knob and pulled the door open, I was engulfed by the putrid smell of rotting flesh. I gagged upon smelling the odor of death, coughing and covering my mouth at the same time. Never had I ever smelled anything so foul. I could barely hold my breath as I looked to my right, seeing nothing but darkness.

Sure as hell wasn't going that way.

To my left, the moonlight shined brightly inside the mansion. I moved towards the window when the sound of sloshing distracted me.

I moved closer to the window, realizing that there was another side to that part of the hallway. On the floor, I saw the quivering boots of someone fighting for dear life before slowly ceasing. On top of them was another person.

At least that was what I thought before they turned around.

As if sensing me, the other "person" rose up from the now dead body on the floor. As I caught a glimpse of the corpse, I recognized the face.

Kenneth Sullivan.

This other person had viciously ripped his throat out. Perhaps the case of people disappearing only to later turn up dead was because of this psychopath that stared at me with a blank look in his eyes. I realized that the horrid smell of the hall was coming from his body. His flesh had fallen off in certain places, most notably his cheeks and lips. There was nothing left of his face other than a humorless visage of grinning teeth and black eyes. The moment that he reached for me, the scent become even more unbearable. The straggly fingers of this guy showed where the bone was exposed and skin and flesh missing.

Just like those dogs outside…

Maybe I should have never teased Marvin about his dream.

My mind did not want to believe what my eyes were projecting to it, but there was no denying at this point that, I was staring into the lifeless eyes of a zombie.

And right now, he wanted nothing more than to feast on my flesh.

I turned back around and fled through the door, slamming my entire 190-pound frame into it. I quickly shut the door behind me. If this creature was as smart as I thought it was, then it wasn't smart enough to turn a doorknob.

I wasn't going to stick around to find out though.

I jetted back across the dining room, until I reached the double doors. I pulled them open with all might, only to step back into the main hall that was devoid of Jill and Wesker.

"Jill? Wesker? Where are you?"

My voice had a bit of panic in it. Admittedly, I was scared shitless.

On the floor, right in front of the seemingly never ending staircase, was a gun.

Jill's gun.

I recognized her special issue Beretta anywhere. Why would she leave it behind? That didn't make any sense to me. Especially not with hordes of undead monsters roaming around. If she was with Wesker though, my guess was that she was safe for the time being.

I picked up her gun and inspected it. The Beretta was still locked on empty. I pulled a fresh clip from my vest, discharged empty one, and slammed it home.

This place was far too dangerous for me to walk around with my weapon holstered. I kept the Beretta firmly entrenched in my hand as I surveyed the remainder of the hall. Jill and Wesker couldn't have gone far. I wasn't gone that long. The silver colored, double doors, across from the ones I just came out of, caught my attention. I tested the knob and it was unlocked. The sound of my beating heart was rapidly thumping in my ears. At this point, I was beyond scared…

After what seemed like an hour, I navigated through the house, finding nothing. For a house that was seemingly empty, many of the doors were locked. I tried ramming them in, but they wouldn't budge at all. I thought about whoever the architect for this place was, did one helluva job.

I found myself walking through the dreadfully quiet halls of the second floor. I was right above the main hall, looking down. From here, it was a doozy of a fall. There was a door to the far corner, closest to the front of the mansion. Compared to the other doors of the house, this one looked relatively new. It was a heavy looking metal door with a chrome finish.

I couldn't wrap my head around one thing since I'd been here: So many of the locked doors had certain motifs engraved underneath the keyholes. Some had what looked like a helmet; others had one of a sword as well as a shield. This door was no different. It had the engraved motif of armor. Some of the doors didn't even have knobs to turn.

This one did.

If I were going to make any progress in finding my comrades, it was time to nut up or shut up. I pulled the Beretta up and aimed it at the doorknob. With steady aim, I fired a single round into the lock. The knob loosened up and the door swayed slightly on its hinges. I put a hand on it to the door open and it was dark inside. I was apprehensive but eventually stepped inside the room. The further I managed to get in there, the more I realized that it wasn't an actual room. It was more of a balcony. The moment I felt the wind brush against my cheek was when it all came together.

It didn't smell as rancid out here as it did in many parts of the mansion. The moonlight seemed to shine brightest towards the front. I could clearly see everything on the balcony as well as down below. The forest was brilliantly illuminated. From here, I could even see where the Bravo team helicopter crashed. As I found myself falling into a daze, the sound of birds flying overhead caught my attention. I looked up into the night sky and found the birds, circling around the balcony.

Right over my head.

Taking it as a bad omen, I started to move further down the balcony. There was a turn at the end that was well hidden by the overhead tree branches. My finger tensed up on the Beretta trigger as I slowly walked to the corner.

I took a peek and in the distance, I saw something on the floor.

A body.

A human body.

Wearing a S.T.A.R.S. uniform…

As I edged closer to the body, I felt my heart jump up in my throat. I swallowed hard, fearing the worst. I held the Beretta right in front of me, ready for any sudden movements. As I got closer to the body, the overpass of branches and vines took away some of the visibility. I took out my flashlight and held it the same way Wesker did when he saved my ass earlier this evening. The body was unmoving, lying face down, on the ground.

Dropping to one knee, I reached over to shift the dead weight over on its back. I almost threw up at the sight of Forest Speyer's dead, punctured body.

What could have done this?

Never before had I seen injuries like these. His body was riddled with small, but deep holes that caused him to bleed out. Speyer was a total asshole, but I would have never wished a death this horrible on him or anyone. I searched his body, finding two spare clips for the Beretta.

He would have no use for them now.

I slipped them into my vest and headed back the way I came. The birds were still circling around the bright spot on the gigantic terrace. I made a run for it, running past them on my way to the door. I slammed it shut behind me, taking in a deep breath.

The image of his dead eyes and marble colored face kept replaying in my head. He looked like he had died before he had a chance to defend himself.

From what? I didn't know.

It was getting late. My stomach was growling louder than the zombie's cries for flesh. I still hadn't found any sign of Jill or Wesker.

Or anyone human.

Throughout my search of the mansion, I had come across the three keys. An armor key, a sword key and a shield key. I knew these keys were needed to unlock the doors that were locked. I just didn't think they would lead me to any survivors. Downstairs on the first floor, I just dropped two more zombies. I quickly learned that the fastest way to kill them was to plug a slug between their eyes.

Saved me valuable time.

More importantly, it saved me valuable ammo.

I was pissed off when I came across a door with a doorknob that was broken. If I needed a quick escape, this door would prove to be the death of me. I went through the door anyway. It was only a matter of time before that knob snapped off. There were three doors in this new area of the house I had not ventured to yet. I went through the door that was nearest to me and opened it. Inside was another hallway with another set of doors. The first door on my right was slightly ajar. I readied my Beretta and held the trigger tightly. As I stepped inside the doorway, I found myself in a room that was shaped liked a box. There was strange artwork plastered all over the walls. Something straight out of an Egyptian tomb.

In the corner farthest from me was another door. I opened it and was pleasantly relieved to find a room that didn't look scary. The window was gated and the room didn't have that unpleasant smell of death.

It smelled more like that of a heavy cigar smoker.

Under the circumstances, I'd take that any day over zombie body odor. I sat on the comfortable looking leather couch and took a moment to take a load off. I couldn't shake how hungry I was feeling, but I didn't deem anything safe to eat in this place.

Then I saw it.

I slowly stood up from the couch and walked over towards the window.

I stood in front of it and still couldn't believe it.

Hanging from a pair of pegs on the wall was a finely minted, Remington 870 pump-action shotgun. I took it down from the wall and behind the wall came the sound of an audible click. I didn't think much of it. I was just happy to have a more powerful weapon at my disposal. Getting a clean headshot wasn't always going to be easy. I opened up the breech and was surprised to find that the shotgun was fully loaded.

What were the odd that I'd find a fully loaded shotgun in a house overrun with bloodthirsty monsters? I'd say about 100-1.

With this baby, my odds of survival just got better.

I rested for about 15 more minutes before heading out. As I stepped into the square shaped room, the door behind slammed shut on its own.

I rushed to open it, but now it was locked. The door wouldn't budge at all.

No matter. There was nothing else of use for me in there anyway. I quickly moved for the other door before I realized it too was locked tight.

I coughed a bit when some dust fell on top of my shoulders. I looked up at the ceiling and saw that the ceiling was a lot lower than it had been when I first came in.

Oh fuck! The ceiling is coming down!

I slammed my shoulder into the door, geared into full panic mode. If I didn't find a way out soon, I was going to be a Redfield pancake.

Without so much as a second thought, I aimed the shotgun and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The thunderous sound of the Remington was trumped by the giant hole the blast left in the door. I quickly jumped through the hole and fell to the floor out in the hallway. Then the ceiling came down to a halt on the floor where my body was just moments ago. I cringed at the thought of being crushed like a tin can, but was grateful I was able to get out of there alive.

Learning first hand that this mansion was booby-trapped was an eye opening experience. What I couldn't understand was why?

After dropping a few more zombies and some dog sized spiders that made my skin crawl, I still hadn't found any clues to any of the other's whereabouts. My ventures had taken me to a medicine room that had a whole bunch of pharmaceuticals I knew nothing about. A kitchen that was way too disgusting to eat in. I had a heart thumping helluva good time when two of those mutts from hell crashed through nearby windows. I was able to drop the first one easy enough with a shot to its head. The other one attacked me as if it hadn't eaten in months. The putrid scent of its breath mad me gag as it pounced on top of me. It knocked my gun out of my hand as I tried to squeeze a round through its temple. It continued to snap at my face, but I was able to hold it at bay for the moment. Driving my forearm into its throat for much needed breathing room, I pulled my combat knife out from its sheath and sunk the 7" serrated blade right into its head.

It whimpered at the impact of my strike and fell off of me. It struggled to move for a few moments, but I didn't give it a chance to get another chance at me. With the heel of my boot, I slammed it down on the head of hellhound, splattering whatever was left of its brain all over the floor. I took a moment to gather my bearings when I heard a scream coming from upstairs.

It was definitely human.

I picked up my Beretta from off the floor and headed upstairs. Judging by where the scream came from, it was right above me. Right in the hallway with the green, metal double doors. It took me only a moment to get there. One thing about me was that I always knew my way around a place once I passed through it once.

Once I got up to the second floor, I looked around for any sign of struggle or blood.

Nothing.

Then I heard one of the doors rattle behind me. I instinctively drew my Beretta at the source of the sound and was utterly relieved to looking into the lively eyes of Rebecca Chambers.

"Chris! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're here!" she said as she ran up to me and hugged me tightly. "I wasn't sure that our transmission went through to HQ."

"We came as soon as we heard. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said. "Things just got so hectic after we crashed in the woods."

"What happened?"

"I…I don't know. One minute we were flying and the next, we were on the ground in a hurry."

"Did everyone make it out safely?" I asked her with concern in my voice.

"Everyone was all right except for Edward. He was hurt pretty bad from the crash. Captain Marini didn't want to leave him behind, but we had no choice after we were attacked." Her voice trailed towards the end of her explanation.

"Attacked?"

"Yeah…at first I thought they were just regular dogs, but when they came after us, I could see that there was something seriously wrong with them."

"Alpha team was attacked by the same creatures when we arrived," I said. "We barely managed to escape with our lives."

"Where is everyone else?"

"We all got separated somehow…Joseph…didn't make it." I solemnly said.

Suddenly remembering why she came out into the hallway, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the doorway she had just come out of.

On the floor, I spotted a body, slumped up against the wall. I moved into the room and realized that it was Richard. As I got closer to him, I noticed two horrific marks on his left arm. It looked like a giant bite of some sort.

What the hell was big enough to bite him like this?

"Richard!" I said as dropped to the floor. I clutched his hand in mine and held it tightly. "You're alive…"

"This…this place…it's a deathtrap…"

"What did this to you?" I asked him. I was unable to take my eyes off of the mortifying injury. His arm was rapidly turning a sickly blue.

"A giant…snake. Bit the fuck out of me," he sighed.

He was losing consciousness.

"He needs serum," Rebecca informed me. The redness in her eyes indicated that she had been crying. Poor kid. First day on the job and she had to face a mess like this.

"The venom is coursing rapidly through his body. He could slip into a coma any minute now."

I thought for a moment before it hit me. "Wait! I passed by a medicine room on the other side of the mansion. We can get to it and get him the serum there."

"It's too risky to try to move him now. Any kind of action just accelerates the venom absorption."

"Okay, stay here. I'll be back with the serum."

"Hurry Chris."

"Wait…are you armed?"

"Yes. I still have my special issue S.T.A.R.S. Beretta. I haven't used it yet though. I'm praying that I won't have to."

I reached into my vest and pulled out one of the clips I had found on Forest's corpse. "Take this…just in case."

She stared at it for a moment before taking it from me. "Thanks."

I nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

At least now I knew I wasn't alone in this crazy mansion anymore.

5

It took me only ten minutes to get to the med room and back. Richard was a fighter. Despite his lack of shooting skill, he was as tough as they came. After Rebecca administered the anti-venom, Richard slowly fell into a deep sleep. Now that he was stable, I carried him to the med room and lied him down on the bed. I had made sure to clear the way of any threats for my return.

Rebecca gawked like a kid in a candy store at the huge selection of chemicals and medicines readily available.

"I can't believe all the stuff we have here. With these, I can treat injuries much more efficiently than these can." She brandished a few green looking herbs that still had dirt caked on the roots.

"What are those?"

"They're medicinal herbs, Chris," she said, rolling her eyes at me as if I should have known. "Did you know that they're exclusive to the Raccoon City area?"

"I had no idea," I admitted. "What exactly does they do though?"

"These green herbs specialize in returning one's strength to peak capacity. It also helps to suppress hunger."

"I sure could use one of those then because I'm starving!"

"You and I both," she added. She glanced at my arm, noticing that it was bruised. "What happened to your arm?"

She reached over to touch it and I winced at her touch. It hurt worse than I realized.

"I kind of smacked it into a tree when I was running away from those crazy zombie dogs. I didn't realize how much it hurt until you touched it."

"It's probably because the effects of your body's adrenaline have worn off."

Now why hadn't I thought of that?

"Would you like for me to patch that up for you?" With the look in her eyes that she gave me, there was no way I could say no.

"Sure."

I sat down in the seat next to Richard and took off my glove. The bruising had run deeper than I initially thought and it was spreading down to my wrist. I extended my arm to her and she took it her hand, applying very little pressure.

"Be gentle," I added with a small smile.

"Don't worry, Chris. In an hour or two, you'll start to feel a lot better."

I watched her walk over to the cabinet with the full array of medicines. She pulled this bottle, filled with a sickly brown liquid and placed it on the floor before taking out a small blue jar with a white cover. When she opened it, the scent was strong and made me lean my head back.

"Whoa, what is that stuff?"

"It's a salve that has heparin in it. It's going to help reduce the level of bruising in your arm."

It only now dawned on me that Rebecca was pretty damn smart. She knew her shit. So young, yet so knowledgeable in her craft. A perfect fit with S.T.A.R.S..

"What the heck is heparin?"

"It's an anticoagulant," she explained. "It seeps through your skin and breaks up the blood clots that form the bruises. Once the bruises go away, you won't feel the pain anymore."

"You really know your stuff, huh?" I said, thoroughly impressed.

"You can say that. I didn't graduate at the top of my class for nothing."

I was blown away by her merit. I had to commend Chief Irons on making such a fantastic addition to the team.

She took out a roll of bandages from a drawer at the foot of the bed and wrapped my arm in them, just short of my elbow. She gave it a taut pull before looking into my eyes, as if searching for visual confirmation.

"You're all set, Chris. Is the dressing tight enough for you?"

"It's perfect," I said. "Thanks, Rebecca."

"Anytime."

I stood up, flexing my arm, as I walked over to the huge array of medicines. "I wonder where all of this medicine came from. It doesn't seem as if anyone actually lives here."

A small giggle escaped Rebecca's lips. "Don't be silly, Chris. All of these pharmaceuticals belong to Umbrella."

"Umbrella?"

"Yeah, Umbrella," she repeated. "Only the biggest corporation in town. Everything that goes on in Raccoon City starts and ends with Umbrella."

Rebecca had no idea how true that was.

"What does Umbrella have to do with the killings? This mansion that nobody knew about? None of it makes any sense."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

She strolled over and placed her hand on Richard's forehead. "His temperature is starting to return to normal. The serum is working."

"How much longer until he's back on his feet?"

"Maybe another couple of hours or so. His body has to fully metabolize the anti-venom. He's going to have one crazy headache when he wakes up though."

"Given what's been going on, a headache should be the least of his worries."

"I guess you're right," she said. She looked at Richard solemnly before stealing a glance at me. "Do you think we'll make it out of here alive?"

I stepped closer to her, resting my good hand on her petite shoulder. "As long as we stick together, we'll be fine," I said. "But, for the time being, you stay here and look after Richard. I'm going to continue to search the mansion for survivors."

"But-,"

"No buts, Rebecca. That's an order."

She pouted fiercely, but she wasn't going to win me over. I needed her to stay here and remain safe while I tried to get us some help. With my radio lost somewhere in the woods, I couldn't contact anyone, anyway. My only bet was to find Jill and Wesker.

This mansion seemed to have thousands of doors. My brain felt overloaded by how much of the layout I had to remember. One thing I picked along the way besides knowing that certain rooms were booby-trapped, were these strange puzzles I had to solve to gain access to other rooms that were hidden away from plain sight. In one particular case, the puzzle itself was booby-trapped.

I found myself in a room, surrounded by suits of armor. It was only fitting that the door be unlocked with the armor key. I noticed the small vents in the floors and walls, but didn't really think much of them. Towards the back of the room, I spotted a small, rusty, box that was stashed away behind a row of bars, embedded in the wall. I thought that maybe this was another one of those dumb puzzles.

Despite myself, my curiosity got the best of me.

I wanted to know what was inside the box that was so important that it was put away in such a manner. I snaked my hand through the bars and tried to pull it out, but it was firmly entrenched inside. Underneath the opening was a message that read:

"Only those who pay homage to knights of ares will pass through my final resting place unscathed"

Talk about anticlimactic.

I had no idea what any of that meant. English certainly wasn't my best subject back in high school. I knew for sure that the answer was right in the clue itself though.

Knights of Ares…

Knights of Ares…

I didn't pay much attention in History either, but I knew that Ares was the Greek god of war. There were eight bodies of armor fixed within the room, four on each side. The clue said something about paying homage to them.

I searched each statue, looking to see if there were any kinds of identifying marks or obvious clues. The only things that I noticed that were different were the motifs engraved on the chest plate of each body of armor.

Sword.

Shield.

Helmet.

Armor.

Just like the damn keys…

I still didn't have a clue what it meant.

I made my way back towards the box in the wall and shined my flashlight on it. On the box was a drawing of warrior, carrying a sword and shield into the sunset, on a horse.

Then it occurred to me. Being the god of war, Ares preferred weapon was the sword and he used the shield for defense. I went back to the statues that had the motifs of a sword and shield and pushed the bodies of armor into the grooves set behind them, in the walls. Once I managed to that, there was a click that came from beneath the floor. The ventilation holes sealed up and the bars in front of the box tucked way inside the way, leaving it accessible.

And who says school is a total waste of time?

I plucked the box from the wall and opened it. Inside of it was a saucer sized, gold emblem with an eagle engraved on it. It looked to be valuable, but I wasn't sure if it served any strategic purpose. Perhaps it was a key of some sort. Whatever it was, I would hold on to it, just in case.

As I stepped out that room, the thought coursing through my mind was what if I had pushed the wrong suits. It bugged me out to think that this place was a much a deathtrap as it was refuge from the unknown outside. Across from me was a door I hadn't entered yet.

It was locked.

A shield motif was engraved underneath the hole.

I fished out the shield key and unlocked the door. Inside looked like a barnyard. Cobwebs everywhere. The floor moaned loudly with each step that I took. There was a thick layer of dust on every bit of furniture here, even the fireplace. There didn't seem to be anything of significance here, but a small folder. I wiped off the dust and opened the folder. There were only two sheets of paper inside. As I took a closer look at the paper, I realized that they were musical notes.

I really should have paid more attention is school.

I tried to play instruments as a kid, but never could get into it. Not like Claire. She was always more talented than I was. She could play this tune with her eyes closed. The top of the sheets both read "Moonlight Sonata". I heard a shuffle from behind the wall, but didn't think much of it, deeming it to be nothing serious.

It was a mistake to let my guard down.

The shuffling stopped after a moment but then was followed by a more disturbing sound.

A deafening hiss…

The very little light that was in the room was suddenly blocked by something. I slowly turned around, ignoring the thumping in my chest to see what it was. Towering over me was a monstrosity that I never in my wildest dreams would have thought to exist.

I giant, slithering snake fixed me a hungry stare as its tongue flickered in and out of its lipless face. I took steady steps backward to give myself a measure of breathing room. This monster had to be "standing" at least 25 feet tall. There were several, tumor like growths protruding from its scales, pulsating in a way that made me want to gag. I had never seen anything like this before.

I swallowed hard and slowly reached for my Beretta. Before I could get a good grip on my weapon, the snake darted at me with otherworldly quickness. I barely managed to escape its doorway-sized jaws. I threw my body several feet out of its way to give my self a good shot. I pulled the trigger until my Beretta locked on empty. There wasn't even enough time for me to discharge my empty clip. The snake cornered me and I had no way out. The 9mm rounds did nothing more than make it angrier. With the Remington strapped across my back, I swung it over my shoulder and aimed for its face. Despite my odds, I was not going to go down without a fight.

Boom!

Chchk!

Boom!

Two thunderous blasts ruptured the ugly tumors growing from the scales of the snake. It squealed in pain and hissed violently as it swung its head at the nearby wall, making dust rain down from above.

My shotgun was fixed in my hand, but I never pulled the trigger…

"Payback time, you son of a bitch!"

Boom!

Chchk!

Boom!

More of the tumors like growths were obliterated by shotgun fire and the snake, unable to take anymore, slithered as fast as it could, making an escape through the massive fireplace in the room. The overcast of darkness caused by the snake's size disappeared, revealing the silhouette of a man, blanketed in the shadows. He stepped out into the light and a small smile came over my face.

"It's a good thing I got here when I did," Richard said, walking over to me with a confidence I'd never seen in him before. "You were seconds away from being snake food."

"Pretty much. Thanks for helping me out."

"It's the least that I can do after you saved my life."

"Don't mention it," I said. "How did you manage to find me anyway?"

Richard had just finished reloading his shotgun. A S.T.A.R.S. special issue M3, fitted with an LED light. "I was investigating the nearby rooms when I heard the gunshots. If there were gunshots, it had to be somebody human."

"Good work. So my guess is that it was that snake that bit you earlier, huh?"

"Yeah, that's the bastard that bit me. I'm gonna make sure it dies by my hand." There was high level of vindication in his voice that was also new to me.

"Where's Rebecca?" I asked, noticing that she wasn't with him.

"After I had come to, we split up to cover more ground," he said. "I already know that you think it was a bad idea, but it's the only choice we have right now."

"You're right," I admitted. "Did you find anything? Anyone?"

Richard shook his head in disappointment. "I didn't find anyone, but I did find these." He pulled out two grenades from his belt and handed me one. "I found them in one of those locked rooms by where you left me and Rebecca. I had to fight off some giant spiders to get to them."

"Thanks," I said as I took the grenade. It looked old, but it would have to do in case of an emergency.

He then reached into his vest and pulled out two Beretta clips. "Here, take these. You're going to need them more than I do," he said. Reaching behind his back, Richard handed me a radio. "You're also going to need this. I always carry two in case one goes dead, but I'm giving you my spare. That way, we can keep in contact in case something goes wrong."

"Thanks a lot, Richard. I lost mine out in the woods. Now I can try to contact Brad once I find the others."

"Others?"

"Yeah. I know Jill and Wesker are out there. We all came into this mansion together. We got separated when I heard gunshots."

"Did you find out who it was?"

"Yeah," I said solemnly. "It was Sullie."

"Dammit. That means it's only me and Rebecca left from Bravo team. I don't know what happened to Enrico."

"Don't worry. We'll find them. I promise."

6

I didn't like the idea of Rebecca being alone. I went out to look for her after Richard and I went our separate ways. I had never known Richard to be so resourceful, but he supplied me with much needed ammunition.

I looked everywhere I had previously gone, but there was no sign of her. This place was so big that it was easy to just miss her as I entered a room and she left it. Or vice versa.

I found myself reinvestigating the very first hallway I entered. The one where I had found Kenneth's body. There were two doors that were still locked. One of them was locked from the other side since there was no keyhole of any sort. Ignoring that door for the time being, I unlocked the other door, using the sword key. Upon entering, I thought I was stepping into a Louisiana speakeasy. A nice, elegant bar, fitted with red leather-topped stools. Behind the bar was a vast selection of liquors, most of the bottles half empty.

Not that should have been a surprise.

I inspected the room a bit further and noticed on the wall that there was a partition. I touched my hand it to it and it felt significantly harder than the rest of the wall.

There must be something behind it.

I felt around for any type of groove, lever or switch, but I had no such luck. Looking over the rest of the room, I walked over to the grand piano that sat in the middle of it. Judging by the smoothness of the keys, the piano was freshly minted and hardly ever played. It was also the only thing in the room with little to no dust on it. I pulled out the notes I had found earlier from my pocket and rested them on the stand. My note reading skills were pretty rusty, but maybe if I played the tune a bit, something would happen. Or unlock. Something had to give.

Hearing myself attempt to play the Moonlight Sonata was punishment to my ears or anyone who was listening. I was totally out of sync and offbeat. My rhythm with the keys was terrible. If the Sonata was supposed to unlock something, there was no way I was going to get it open.

The door opened up and I reflexively aimed my Beretta toward it. I was relieved that it wasn't a zombie. I was even more pleased when it was Rebecca who found me after I spent the past hour and a half looking for her.

"Hey, Chris. I thought I heard a piano," she said as she came over to me. "What's this?"

She picked up the notes of the stand and looked over them with a fast eye. "The Moonlight Sonata, huh? Mind if I give it a try?"

"Can't be any worse than I was. Go ahead."

Almost instantly, Rebecca was able to pick up the notes. She was still a little off key, but she did a lot better than I did. "Is there anything you're not good at?" I asked.

"I'm not perfect, Chris," she said with a shy smile. "Besides Chemistry, I also like music."

"I like music too…I'm just awful at playing it."

She giggled at my comment as she continued to play the notes. Each time she would get closer, but there was a note or two that was still off a bit. She then shot me a focused look. "I'm getting close, but I need just a little more time."

"That's all right," I said. "I'll continue to investigate the mansion. You stay here."

She didn't try to argue me down this time. Knowing that she was at least safe for the moment put me at ease. I walked out of the room and stepped back into foul smelling hallway. Instead of going back the way I came, I headed towards the kitchen area. During my last visit, all I found worthwhile in the kitchen were a couple of zombies and some weird looking bugs. I remembered passing by what looked like an elevator shaft on my way there. This time, I stopped short of the kitchen entrance and took out my flashlight. I searched for some type of call button, finally finding it on the upper left side of the terminal. There was a red bulb that was lit up over the words "Insufficient Power". Perhaps there was a generator of some sort in the lower levels. I wasn't eager to find out, but I wanted to know where this elevator led.

Making a sharp U-turn, I navigated my way back into the main hall. I thought I was seeing things, but without a doubt, I knew I wasn't hallucinating.

"Wesker?"

The Captain was hunched over on one knee, seemingly examining something on the ground. He turned around to face me for a moment before he returned his attention to the task at hand. "Chris. Come over here, please."

Same old Wesker.

I briskly made my way over to him and saw that he was examining a zombie body.

Forest's body.

"What the hell? How did he get out here?"

Wesker looked at me, his eyebrows arching over the ridges of his shades in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I…I came across his body, upstairs, when we first got here. He was dead when I found him."

Wesker rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…it appears that the zombies are capable of reanimating themselves, even after all somatic functions have ceased."

"Ummm…what does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that even if we shoot them down, they can still come back to life."

"Is that how he got here?"

"It must have been. He attacked me at the top of the staircase," Wesker said coolly. I was resigned to accept the fact that I would never catch Wesker sweat. "I shot him in the head and he went down. The strange thing was that he moved significantly faster than the other zombies. He was much harder to kill."

"With these things, a headshot is our best bet. Or just take their head off completely."

I received a contemplative look from the Captain. "Very good, Chris. You're one of my best men for a reason."

"Thank you, sir," I said. "Hey, where's Jill?"

"Shortly after you left, we were ambushed by more of the dog creatures. We made a run for it, but got separated. I have not seen her since."

Something didn't feel right about how quickly he answered me.

I didn't know how to feel about what Wesker said, but the way he said it…something just didn't feel right about it.

"And Barry?"

"Still no sign of him, I'm afraid," he replied. "Here, take this."

In his hands was a box of 12-gauge shotgun shells. "I don't have any use for these," he explained. "Ammunition is scarce, so use it with caution."

"I will do just that. So what do we do now?"

"I'm curious to know what has happened here. I will investigate this place further to see what I can dig up. My radio is always on, so keep in contact if you find anything."

"Yes, sir."

Wesker nodded and hurriedly went up the stairs and disappeared into one of the many doors. Now that I knew he was alive, I had to find Jill. I went back to the piano room and saw the elated look on Rebecca's face when I opened the door.

"Chris, Chris! I think I got it!"

"Oh yeah? Let's see what you got," I said with a smile.

Rebecca cracked her fingers and returned a smile at me.

Gosh she reminds me so much of Claire...

She started to play the tune and the melody was perfect. By this point, she was able to play the tune without looking at the notes.

To say that I was impressed was an understatement.

Once she played the entire melody, the spot in the wall I noticed earlier slid up into the ceiling, revealing a passageway.

"Wow! A secret room?" she said. Rebecca moved towards the passage and entered. I could hear the clack of her boots echo on the hard concrete.

I moved to follow and stepped inside. It was a lot cooler here then the rest of the mansion. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I looked over at Rebecca and peered in her hand as she came back with something in it.

"What did you find?"

"It looks like some weird key," she shrugged. "I wonder what it opens."

I took the key from her and examined it. It was completely made of gold and had a skull on it, with two red jewels in place of the orbs. "We're just going to have to figure it out, aren't we?"

"So does this mean that we don't have to split up?" she asked, earnestly.

"You can come along with me," I said. "Besides, it's easier to keep an eye on you this way."

"I'm not a baby, you know!"

"You're not a baby, but you're the baby of S.T.A.R.S.. As your unofficial big brother, I have to look out for you."

I can see that she didn't really like that distinction. She twisted her face in pseudo angst, as if trying to sway me out of my decision.

"You can pout all you want, young lady, but it's safer this way."

"Fine, Chris," she sighed. Her eyes suddenly wailed open as she quickly dug into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Oh wait! I found this upstairs in one of the bedrooms."

"What is this?" I asked, taking it from her.

"I think it's some kind of memoir or something. Read it."

I unfolded the paper and jetted my eyes across the text:

" June 29th

I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to last in here. I was promised that I could go home once the experimentation was done. That was over six months ago. The chief researcher oversees everything with an iron fist. Not to mention that some of the B.O.W.s have become far more unpredictable as the T-virus continues to mutate inside of them. One of the MA-121s was set free last week. It killed Timothy and Charise. I wanted to help them, but I was too afraid to meet that end. But, now that it seems that I haven't a chance of escaping, I only wished to have been able to join them. I deserve nothing more than a coward's death.

Can't…can't stop…itching…

So…hungry…"

I looked intently at the note, trying to make sense of it. I looked over at Rebecca, who looked just as lost as I did.

"What the hell was going here?" I asked, more to myself than her.

"I think this mansion is just a front for something bigger," she said. "I just wish I knew what."

"If we get to the bottom of this, maybe it will clear up some loose ends," I said. "By the way, what the hell is a T-Virus? Or a B.O.W.?"

"Haven't a clue, but I'm starting to think that we'll find out soon enough."

7

Rebecca and I swept through the first floor, fortunate enough to not have zombies on our tails. Taking the long way back, I reentered the hallway through the door with the broken doorknob. It almost snapped it off when I pulled it, but it stayed in place enough for me to get maybe one more turn out of it.

"Over there, Chris," Rebecca said, breaking the silence between us. "On the door."

Right next to the door with the broken knob was another door, hidden by the overcast of shadows. I didn't remember seeing it when I came through here last time, but the insignia on the keyhole definitely matched the one on the weird key we had found in the piano room.

"Good work, Rebecca," I said. "Be ready for any surprises, okay?"

"I'm ready," she replied. Her Beretta rattled nervously in her hands, but she looked poised in the eyes.

In the end, that's all that mattered.

I placed the key near the keyhole and the small red eyes on the key lit up.

To say that I was surprised would be underplaying it delicately.

The red eyes, which I had thought to be jewels of some sort, were actually diodes.

A masterfully crafted electronic key.

The locks inside of the door clicked and the door was now unlocked. I looked and made sure that Rebecca was still in the zone before pushing it open.

No enemy in sight.

The room wasn't really much of a room at all. It was more of a small study. A desk, a small lamp and a pile of papers sputtering from the edges. After Rebecca came inside, I quickly pushed the door closed.

"There must be something important in here if the key to this room was hidden," Rebecca said aloud.

"Keep your eyes peeled for any and everything."

I searched through the papers on the desk. Many of them were irrelevant. Mostly receipts from fast food deliveries and Raccoon City Mall. The top drawer revealed nothing either.

"Hey, Chris. What do you make of this?"

I looked up from the drawers and at Rebecca, eyeing closely what was in her hand. It looked like a giant coin, painted in red, white, and blue. I circled around the desk and took it from her. It certainly had a good weight to it. Easily able to do damage if used as a weapon. "I don't know," I said, "but I think we should hold on to it. You never know what we might need it for in the crazy place."

I handed her the coin and continued to search. I was able to find a grenade in the lower left drawer of the desk. I quickly slipped it onto my belt and moved to the file cabinet in the back corner. Locked with a cheap padlock, I used the butt of my Beretta to hammer it off and pulled out the first drawer.

More meaningless paperwork.

The second drawer was totally empty.

Not expecting to find anything in the last drawer, I was a little surprised to find a computer disc tucked away inside of a manila folder. I held the disc up in the light, examining it thoroughly. It was labeled "MO Disc 1".

What could this have been used for?

"Find anything?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah," I said, holding up the disc. "Have any idea what this is for?"

"I'm a chemistry geek, not a computer geek," she joked.

I tucked the disc into my pocket and made a move for the door. "Let's keep moving. We're bound to come across something soon enough."

We quickly headed out the door. I took point and turned to the corner at the far right of the hallway. There was a door there I hadn't gone through yet. Rebecca braced herself for any threat as I pushed the door open.

The cool breeze that hit us both was a bit refreshing. The mansion was stuffy and the smell of rotted flesh was everywhere. A pathway lied before us that was blocked off from the outside by a high wall of concrete. At the end of the pathway was another door. I pulled on the knob.

The door wouldn't budge an inch.

To the side of the door was an indentation in the wall that looked big enough to fit a small plate inside it.

Maybe the gold coin with the eagle on it would fit inside. I took it out from my pocket and placed it in the indentation. It fell out right out, clanking loudly on the ground.

"I was sure that would work," I said to Rebecca, scratching my head.

Rebecca studied the indentation. She then took out the coin we had just found moments ago and looked at the back of it. She then placed the coin into the wall and it locked tightly in place. The door in front of us clicked and I pushed the door open. "After you," I said."

Rebecca went through the door and I followed closely behind.

This entire place was getting weirder and weirder.

Standing in what looked like a barn house from the 1950s, I felt myself about to sneeze after breathing in the torrent of dust in here. Rebecca was already at the other end, gesturing for me to follow. We pushed through the exit at the other end and were now in what looked like the backyard of the mansion.

It smelled worse out here than it did in the mansion.

However, the smell was the least of our worries.

As if on cue, four of those dog creatures appeared from behind a tattered gate. I wasn't sure if they had spotted us or not. I brushed Rebecca behind me with my arm, shielding her away from them.

Treading carefully on the wet concrete, we made it to the gated door on the other end without alerting them to our presence. I pushed the heavy gate open and we both slipped inside.

Now I knew where the awful smell was coming from.

Whatever the giant pool was used for, it sure as hell wasn't swimming. It was more of a cesspool now, dank with putrid smelling water. I even saw small snakes floating around in the mucky liquid.

"How do we get across?" Rebecca asked.

"Over there," I said, pointing to a water pumping station.

Wasting no time, I went over to the station and quickly pressed the button. There was a sound like a belly gurgle that preceded the water finally being drained from the massive cesspool. The whole process took about ten minutes and my mouth hung open when I saw how deep the pool was once the water cleared. It had to be nearly 30 feet deep. There was no way that we would have made it in that mess, not knowing what was in the water.

In the center of the now receded pool was a walkway that led to the other side. It was about 50 feet long. Rebecca climbed down the ladder on our end of the pool and I joined her on the walkway. Looking up into the night sky from down here was when it really hit me how deep this pool was. Once we climbed the ladder on the other end, we made our way to a small lift that was located on the far side. Rebecca hit the button and we descended into the unknown.

There was a lot to take in down in this part of the yard. The size of it was just plain ridiculous. A bundle of ten houses could fit here. The only thing of significance was another lift, a gate on the far side of the courtyard and a giant waterfall, right in the middle. As I got closer to the fall, the same foul smelling water was pouring down from overhead, forcing us both to take a step back.

The water was coming down mighty hard. Even though I could see an opening on the other side, there wasn't any way for us to get through.

"Look's like we're going to have to find another way around," I said to Rebecca, pointing to the mysterious gate on the other end.

"Right behind you."

Pushing the gate open, there was a long pathway that led to a house hidden behind some trees. As we approached the house, one of the zombie dogs leapt out from the bushes, startling us. The bloodthirsty hound was gunning straight for Rebecca. She had no chance at getting a quality shot. I fired one shot at the dog, hitting it square in the head as it leapt at her. It fell to the ground, splattering what was left of its head on the ground.

"Th…thanks, Chris," she said pensively. "I owe you one."

"Don't mention it. Let's keep moving."

I opened the front door to the house and peeked inside.

Nothing.

I opened the door wider for Rebecca and she joined me on the inside. Unlike the majority of the places I had been, this one seemed to smell less of rotting flesh, but more like seaweed. The thought only crossed my mind for a second when I saw Rebecca drop down to one knee, inspecting something on the floor.

I peered over her shoulder and saw the dried up corpse of one of the giant spiders on the floor. It had shriveled to less than half its size.

"I like them better this way," I said. "Dead and harmless."

"I couldn't agree with you more," she said, thoughtfully. "What I'm trying to understand is what caused the spider to wilt up like this."

Taking a closer look at it, I said, "What do you mean?"

"It's as if the spider was sucked dry of all the liquid in its body. Certainly not a natural death by any means."

"There's nothing natural about anything here, or haven't you noticed?"

"I know that, Chris," she snapped. "All I'm saying is that it's strange."

"I was just joking, relax," I said. "How about we forget about the spider and find our friends, okay?"

She nodded, sharing a smile with me before standing up. However, there was movement coming from behind the nearest corner. We both jumped at the sound of it. I clenched the Beretta tightly in my hand as I moved to look around the corner.

I didn't see anything there.

"There's nothing there," I informed Rebecca.

"Are you sure? We both heard something."

"I know, but when I looked, I didn't see anything. Want to take a look for yourself?"

Rebecca got back to her feet and joined me at the corner. I pointed to the emptiness that was there. We both took steps forward towards the door at the other end.

In that instant, something like a clothesline knocked us down. My face smacked hard against the splintered floor. After opening my eyes, there was nothing but a blurry image of a massive, whip like mass, slicing through the air on its way back into the hole in the floor I didn't see earlier.

"Rebecca, you okay?" I asked, shaking the grogginess from my now aching head.

"I'm okay, Chris," she said as she got back to her feet. "Did you see that?"

"Afraid not. What was it?"

"I only saw it for a second after it us…but it looked like…like a vine!"

"A vine? Are you sure?"

"I know what a vine looks like. I had just never seen a vine move before."

Looking across the floor at the hole, it had to be at least ten inches in diameter. Not a huge hole by, but one I should have seen. I could have sworn that the vine that I saw was much wider than that, but it hit me so fast, it was hard to tell. I took a gamble and tried moving toward the door again, slowly this time. I could hear something stirring underneath the floorboards and took a step back.

If it was indeed a vine, I didn't even want to think about what it was attached to.

"We need to put something over this hole so that we can get past here," I said.

"What about that crate over there?" Rebecca pointed to a wooden crate in the opposite corner of the hall. It looked old, but it would surely do the job. I went over to it and tried to move it over the hole. It was a lot heavier than it looked but I managed to shuffle it over the opening. Underneath the floor, I could hear something tapping away at the crate from the bottom.

"Come on, Rebecca. Let's get to this door. I don't know how much longer this is going to hold."

I climbed over the crate and landed right in front of the door. Reaching over to take her outstretched hand, I pulled her to the floor. A thankful look on her face, I turned to open the door in front of us.

The other side of the door looked a lot the side that we had just come from. A "Z" shaped hallway with three doors. I tested each door, frowning at the fact that two of the three doors were locked. At the end of the hall, I saw a body slumped over in the corner. As I got a closer look at the body, it didn't really look like much of body anymore.

There was not a spot that was not lumped up in a nasty, purple knot. A foul, pus looking liquid was seeping out from the lumps in the skin. However, there was something of interest on his body.

A key.

I reached into the mess of a body and grabbed the key. It was a key for one of the locked doors in the hallway. Rebecca stood idly by, not wanting to be any closer to the corpse.

I examined the key, seeing the numbers "002" marked on the back. One of the locked doors had that number. I moved to the door with my Beretta in hand. Slipping the key into the hole, I opened the door and Rebecca quietly followed behind me. There was a side to the room that was completely obscured from my view, but both of us heard the familiar moans of the undead. I put my hand up, signaling Rebecca to stop. A zombie, wearing a bloodstained lab coat, approached us. A whisper of a gasp escaped from Rebecca's lips as she saw that this zombie's jaw was missing. I raised my Beretta up and fired right into its head. The zombie hit the floor hard.

There was still another groan coming from around the corner and we moved closer. Unlike the other rooms in this place, it was well lit here and I could see everything. The zombie was shuffling from behind the desk, aimlessly. I lowered my weapon before turning my attention back to Rebecca.

"How about you take this one?" I said.

"Okay," she replied a bit nervously. Rebecca took a deep breath, flexed her finger of the trigger and fired.

She missed wide of the zombie's face.

"Try again. This time, both eyes open."

The muzzle flash of her Beretta almost blinded me because she was so close, but I could see that she made her mark on the zombie. Its head was splattered on the wall behind it.

"Wow! I...I got it!"

"Don't think too hard about it, all right. When you aim, just push it out of your mind that they were human, because they're not anymore."

Rebecca looked at me awkwardly for a moment. I knew the gears in her head were moving and the thought had never occurred to her before. However, she had no choice but to look at it that way. It would be costly if she thought otherwise.

There was a ladder embedded in the floor that caught my attention. I moved closer to it and looked down.

There was an underground passage of some sort.

While I was inspecting the ladder, Rebecca had been looking through a file that was lying on the nearby desk. She mused through it thoughtfully before handing it to me.

"What's this?" I asked as I took it from her. The file read "Plant 42 Report."

"The answers to our questions of what's been going on here…at least part of it."

Looking through the file, I saw various photographs of what looked like cells in different stages of development. As I read through the file, things suddenly became a lot clearer:

"Four days have passed since the accident and the plant at Point 42 is growing amazingly fast. Dealing with the zombie like creatures is one thing. That effect of the T-Virus on humans was predictable, based on our research.

However, the giant plant has reacted differently to the T-Virus. As with all the plants that have been exposed, this one shows unique shape and structure, coupled with its enormous size. Looking at the way it behaves, it is now difficult to determine what kind of plant it was originally, although the carnivorous tendencies it shows leads me to believe that it may have been a cross between a Drosera capensis and a Dionaea muscipula.

I have studied the plant while it was still small enough and concluded that it gathers nutrition in two distinct ways. The first is through the massive root that reaches down into the basement.

Immediately after the accident, Robert Gilliam, one of our lead researchers, went mad and broke the water tank in the basement. Ever since, the entire basement has been almost completely submerged in water. I suspect that the water from the aqua ring is contaminated with chemicals, which has promoted the plant's abnormal growth. We have yet to determine as to which chemicals they may have been.

It has been reported that a large, bulb-like body has been seen on the first floor of the dormitory. Although unable to move due to its massive size, the plant has been able to utilize the ventilation system as a means to extricate its vines throughout the complex, which leads me to my second observation to how the plant acquires nutrients.

The vines are used to ensnare unsuspecting victims, coiling them until they are unable to resist. It is then that the plant's vines begin to drain the victim/prey of its blood, wilting the body in the process. I have personally witnessed several staff members fall victim to the feeding of the plant.

It should also be noted that the plant exhibits a degree of sentience. When either feeding or resting, it uses its vines to seal off the door, keeping any intruders from entering.

Based upon the reports made by the surviving victims, they all shared a common thread of information with me: The plant and its level of aggression increases tenfold when the petals to its flower-like head open, revealing the weak spot in the seemingly invincible predator.

I have done as much research as I could without getting too close to the plant, but with more researchers falling prey each day, I know its only a matter of time before I am next. The lead man with the sunglasses shows little to no concern for our safety. His callousness towards me and my colleagues has been more troubling than the outbreak. He keeps to himself and only speaks to that young researcher, Birkin with any kind of humanity. If I survive for at least another week, I will learn more of these two individuals.

May 21, 1998

Henry Sarton

After reading that report, I really had no idea what to make of it. I was about as far from a scientist as one could get, but now I knew that there were some real foul experiments taking place here. And what did he mean by the lead man with the shades? Could he have been possibly talking about Wesker?

Yeah, the guy was aloof and a little off base, but he had never been callous to us. Emotionally unavailable, but certainly not callous.

"What do you make of this, Rebecca?"

"It means we have a big problem on our hands," she said, looking at the ladder. "The basement is right down there."

"We need to know for sure what's happened here. Let's go down there and check it out. If it becomes too dangerous, we get out, okay?"

Rebecca reluctantly nodded her head. "Okay."

She was absently holding a heavy looking, red book in her tiny hands. I took the book from her and flipped through the pages. Of all the strange things I had seen since coming here, finding a book with absolutely nothing written on any of the pages, was near the top of the list. Nonetheless, my experience here has taught me that even the most useless object could be used as a weapon or key.

Only time would tell when I would need the wordless book.

The basement level of the dormitory was poorly lit. The flickering lights were damaging enough on the eyes, but a smell like a dirty mop floated rampantly through the air down here. As we both moved further down the half-lit corridors, the sudden sloshing of my feet forced me to stop in my tracks. I took a look down to the floor and realized I had stepped in a pool of water. Ahead of us was incredibly dark and I needed my flashlight to see the remainder of the way.

The water got deeper and deeper.

I spotted a metal door at the end of the corridor. I calculated that by the time we had reached it, I would be no less than neck deep in water. My main concern was Rebecca, since she was shorter than me. She would probably be completely submerged once we arrived at the door.

I took a few steps forward, flinching at the coldness of the water, as it got higher on my body. After just a few steps I was waist deep. Although faint, I could smell the chemical impurities in the water. The smell was similar to that of bleach, but still was distinct enough for me to know that it wasn't.

I told Rebecca to stay back until I reached the door and I was relieved that the water was right by my stomach. That meant that this was about as high as the water would be if the ground were as level as it was on this side of the door.

"Rebecca, let's go," I said, motioning her to follow me.

"I'm right behind you."

I pushed forward and opened the door. I could feel the burn of the muscles in my calves, despite the near freezing cold water, as I treaded methodically through.

I observed my surroundings, taken aback by how big the aqua ring was. It was easily about as big as three city blocks. What was more unnerving was that there was a lower level from where we were standing. So deep that I was unable to see the bottom.

"Chris, let's head over to the door over there," Rebecca said.

I looked over to the door with the red light above it. Next to the light were the words "Control Room."

"Maybe we can find a way to drain this water," I replied. "We'll never be able to investigate this place like this."

Rebecca and I pushed forward as we moved slowly towards the control room.

That was before I saw something that I only thought I would see in horror movies.

It darted through the water at explosive speed from the other side of the aqua ring, coming straight for us. As I continued to watch on, my fears were confirmed when I realized that I was looking at the dorsal fin of what had to be a shark.

Judging by the size, it had to be a really big one.

"Run!" I said as grabbed Rebecca by the arm and pulled her to come forward with me. "We don't have much time."

"Chris, what are you-," was all she said before she too saw the telltale sign of a shark. "Oh crap!"

The water was slowing us down immensely. Although we were just a few meters away, the shark was gaining on us. I could feel my heart racing in my eardrums as I used all the strength I had to get us to the control room.

"Come on, Rebecca! We're almost there!"

"My legs," she wheezed. "They're getting tired."

"If you don't keep moving, you won't have any legs to complain about!"

I looked back over my shoulder and I knew that shark would be on us soon. It was at that moment that it reared its head from beneath the water, eyeing us with its cold, black orbs. As it continued to move toward us, it opened up its jaw, revealing rows of bloodied, jagged teeth. I could smell the stench of decay and old flesh on its breath.

That's how close it was now.

"You can make it!" I said to Rebecca as she made it to the door and pushed herself inside. The floor level of the control room was higher than the rest of the aqua ring, and once I reached it, I knew I'd be clear.

Just a little more to go.

I continued to pump my legs, shaking off the awful reek of death behind me as I finally pulled myself up to the control room and shut the door behind me. Before I had a chance to secure the door, the shark spearheaded its massive body at the door, leaving an imprint of its face embedded in the reinforced metal.

"That was a close one," I said, sighing in relief.

Rebecca also let out a sigh as we both took in our surroundings. The control room was built like a submarine, fitted with various pressurization constructs. My guess was that it was made this way in case of the aqua ring being underwater.

About the only good thing about this place so far.

Rebecca walked up to the control panel, looking over myriad of dials and switches that were lit up. I too took a look at them. This system was designed to maintain steady pressure to balance out with the immense pressure of the water outside.

Leaving Rebecca to herself, I ventured down to the lower level of the control room. Down here, I didn't find anything useful except for an old, gold colored zippo lighter. I flicked the dial on it and a small blue flame sprouted from the exhaust. Not knowing what lied ahead, I took it and slipped it into my vest.

It might just come in handy.

To my right, was a door that was firmly held shut by the water pressure outside. There was absolutely no way I was going to get it open, even if I had tried. There was a small porthole in the door that allowed me to look outside and I could barely make out what looked like a metal ramp way. There just wasn't enough light.

Realizing that there wasn't anything of use on the lower level, I went back up to rejoin Rebecca. She was still looking over the buttons and switches, trying to make out their functions.

"I didn't find anything downstairs. We're going have to drain this water somehow to continue."

"Draining the water isn't the problem," she said. Her eyes were intensely focused on the panel. "Finding out how to work these controls is a whole other story."

The left side of the panel had controls marked "Pressurization Failsafe" and the ones on the right "Emergency Evacuate". I hit the flashing yellow button on the right side and right in front of us and a metal plate slid down in front of the observation window. Just as it was about half way down, the incredible force of the shark ramming its own body into the window shook the entire control room. The window itself must have been at least a foot thick, but the shark was able to crack it with little effort. From this view, I was able to get a much better look at the shark. It looked to be a Great White, but it seemed a lot larger than anyone I had seen at the aquarium. Also, some of its scales were missing, replaced by some crude, tumor like masses, similar to the ones I had seen on the snake.

Must have something to do with this T-Virus I keep coming across.

Rebecca and I both suddenly jumped when a prerecorded warning message played over the PA system, accompanied with flashing red lights throughout the control room.

"EMERGENCY…EMERGENCY…UNKNOWN SOURCE OF PRESSURE DETECTED. LOCKING ALL DOORS TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM SAFETY."

There were all sorts of clicking mechanisms that signaled that we were effectively being locked in.

"Oh no!" Rebecca shrieked. "What do we do?"

Taking one look at the monitor of the control panel, the pressure threshold was already at 30 percent. "We need to get those security gates down immediately!"

I frantically searched the entire panel, looking for anything that stood out. There was a small, green button near the top of the panel marked "Safety Release". Pressing down on it, the security gate went back up.

The pressure threshold was now at 75 percent.

"Rebecca, quick! Hit the yellow button!"

Rebecca palmed the button and pressed down on it again. The security gate was coming down again, this time without interruption. It was seemingly taking forever.

"WARNING…WARNING…PRESSURE THRESHOLD AT 90 PERCENT. ACTIVATE WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY."

The moment the gate came down, I hit the water evac button and all the flashing red lights stopped. The sound of water rushing out from the aqua ring could be heard from behind the security gates. After 15 minutes, the control room's lights were now a steady green.

"WATER DRAINAGE COMPLETE. RELEASING ALL DOORS."

I dropped down to the floor, wiping the sweat from my brow as I took a moment to gather myself. Rebecca joined me on the floor. We both leaned against the control panel, waiting for our heartbeats to return to normal.

"Why do I get the feeling that someone doesn't want us to find out what's going on here?" I said.

"Funny you say that. I was thinking the same thing," Rebecca replied. She had a shallow, tired look on her face. "I've seen enough of this place to last me a lifetime."

"Nothing here makes any sense. Where did all of these creatures come from?"

Rebecca looked at me blankly as she got back to her feet. I also stood up and snapped the crick in my neck.

Fighting mutated creatures and zombies was a recipe for stiff muscles.

I made my way back down to the lower level of the control center. After helping Rebecca down the ladder, I pushed through the door that was previously held shut by the water. Driblets of water were raining down from above. To my right was an assortment of boxes. A closer inspection revealed various experimental equipment, ammunition as well as dynamite. Unfortunately, none of them were of any use after being soaked up.

There was a gated door on the far side of where we stood and Rebecca and I went through. Upon entering, I got a first hand look at what was left of the aqua ring. The tank used to contain the shark was much larger than I initially thought. In the middle of it was a huge hole in the reinforced glass. I ran my finger along the edge of the jagged glass and my finger caught on a leathery piece of bloody flesh that was snagged on the glass.

"What's that?" Rebecca asked as she came up from behind me.

"My guess is that it's the shark's skin. It must have scraped itself when it escaped."

Rebecca lips were on the verge of parting, but we both became silent upon hearing a heavy flopping sound on the other side of the tank. The tank itself was just a fraction smaller than the entire aqua ring and it took us almost an entire minute to get to the other side. When we got there, we both spotted the giant shark on the floor, gasping for air. Now that it was out in the open, I estimated that this monstrous fish was almost 40 feet long. Its width was also remarkable, easily making it far larger than a normal shark of its species.

The shark's movements were becoming more prudent as it struggled to breathe. I didn't want to chance getting anywhere near it while it was still alive, so I took Rebecca by her arm and guided her around the tank to the other side. There was a door that was sealed by a valve handle that was marked "Storage Locker". I put a firm grip on the valve handle and tried to turn it.

It wouldn't budge at all.

"Rebecca, give me a hand with this, will you?"

She holstered her Beretta and joined me. It took more strength than I knew either of us had in our bodies to turn the valve handle, but after a long strenuous effort, we finally heard the loud screech of metal on metal.

I looked down at my hands and my gloves were almost worn out from the amount of pressure I exhausted trying to turn the handle. After opening the door, Rebecca and I stepped into absolute darkness. I immediately took out my flashlight and clicked it on. The light flickered for a minute before going out.

Permanently.

"Great," I muttered under my breath. "I can't even see my hand in front of my face."

"There's got to be some kind of switch or something around here," she said. I couldn't see her, but I could make out her location by the sound of her boots against the wet floor.

At that moment, I remembered the zippo lighter I had found earlier and ran my hand through my vest compartment. I fished it out and flicked the lighter on. It didn't provide much light, but at least now I could see where I was going. The echo of our footsteps seemed took a moment to reach back to us.

This room must have been big.

Click.

The overhead lights blinked softly before steadying a warm glow overhead. Rebecca had found the light switch and turned to face me. I had unknowingly ventured to the back of the room where there was a doorway that was seemingly blocked off by vines. I unsheathed the combat knife that was resting on my shoulder and cut through the vines.

Everything I had read in the file Rebecca showed me came to life. Before me was a massive root. Each stalk's diameter was twice as large as my own body. I was thankful that the roots were immobile, otherwise we would be in some serious trouble. There was a heavily dilapidated table that was soaked beyond repair in the middle of the room. The weight of one of the root stalks collapsed the table as I got closer to it. On the floor was a shiny metal object.

Another key.

I picked up the key and examined it, reading the marking of the number "003". It must have been the key for another one of the locked dormitory doors upstairs.

"There doesn't seem to be anything else here for us to find," I said to Rebecca after pocketing the key. "Let's head back."

"Right."

After passing through the aqua ring again, the once fearsome predator was now an after thought as its lifeless eyes stared unseeingly at us. We made our way back upstairs, blasting a couple of zombies along the way.

I was now standing in front of the door marked "003" and slid the key in. There wasn't anything here except for a lounge bar and three doors. The shelves of the bar were totally bare and filled with malicious cobwebs. I continued moving forward and tested the knob of the first door on my right.

It was locked tight.

Next to it was a numeric keypad. I didn't even have a clue what the combination might have been. I didn't have the time to find out either. The door itself was very well built. I wasn't sure if even a shotgun blast at close range could blow the lock off. I ignored it for the time being and kept moving. Rebecca was following closely behind when I tried to open a set of double doors. I turned the knob all the way but the door wouldn't budge. It was as if something was holding it back on the other side.

My frustration was slowly starting to mount. Three doors, two of them impassable. With a stroke of luck, maybe door number three would not be locked. I reached for the doorknob, took in a deep breath, readied my Beretta and turned.

I almost fell flat on my face from the door swinging open so easily. I stumbled inside of the cleanest room in the entire upper level of the dormitory. The bed in this room was only one I came across not doused in blood and bile. I was also relieved not to have any enemies in here. I had forgotten that I had only one round left in the chamber of my Beretta and knew that I needed to put in a fresh clip. After doing that, I moved further into the room. Apart from the bed, there was a small desk and a bookshelf on the back wall. Nothing unusual in this room.

Except for the long row of red books on one of the shelves.

The only reason it stood out was because there was one white book in the middle. I took the white book out and filed papers fell from the pages. As they floated lightly down to the floor, I picked up the files and began reading them. The cover page was titled "V-Jolt Report."

First there is the T-Virus that I know nothing about and now V-Jolt? Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder.

I tossed the cover page aside and started reading through the file:

"As I stated in the last report, there are some common features found within the cells of the plant infected with the Tyrant Virus. I have also discovered another interesting fact through some experimentation.

I unknowingly discovered a potential weakness of the T-Virus infected plant currently located at Point 42. It appears that the chemical conglomerate 'UMB No.16' destroys the cells of the plant. However, due to funding restrictions, I was unable to formulate UMB No.16 in any quantity. The man in the shades assured me that the shipment of the needed chemicals would come soon. The sooner they come, the sooner I can process a batch before the plant grows too far out of control.

I have named the chemical 'V-Jolt.' It is my calculation that the cellular degeneration process will take no more than five seconds if applied directly to the root.

In the event that I am no longer alive when the shipment arrives, I am leaving behind the chemical formula to prepare V-Jolt. The UMB chemicals used must be mixed in a specific order and quantity. I cannot stress this enough. If not, the UMB chemicals can form a gas that is extremely toxic to humans. I repeat again that extreme caution must be exercised when mixing the chemicals.

Below, I have associated each UMB chemical by its hue:

UMB No. 2 (Red)

UMB No. 4 (Green)

UMB No. 7 (White)

NP-003 (Purple)

P-006 (Yellow)

UMB No. 13 (Blue)

UMB No. 16 (Brown)

*Note: Each chemical should be applied in quantities of 4mg at a time. Any more than that will create the poisonous toxins. I have marked beakers and flasks in the chemical room where the UMB products are stored. WATER has a formula value of ONE in the V-Jolt equation and should also be quantified in 4mg."

I folded the files neatly and placed them into my pocket. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do any of that because I am terrible with chemicals. I have a hard enough time making lemonade from scratch.

"What did the file say?" Rebecca asked me, earnestly. She stared at me with wide, doe-like eyes of interest.

"Something about the plant again. A chemical formula of some sort that can kill it."

"If there's a way to kill it with chemicals, I can do it, Chris."

"I don't think we'll have to. We've been here for a little while now and haven't even come across it. I like our odds."

As Rebecca furrowed her brow in displeasure, I turned my attention back to the bookshelf. I was carrying a red book that looked just like the ones on the shelf. I took out the wordless book and placed it in the open space.

It fit perfectly.

The entire bookshelf suddenly slid over to the right, revealing a sturdy metal door.

"Why am I not surprised?" I scoffed. "Hopefully, we'll get some answers."

The door was indeed heavy. It took both of us to push it open. On the other side of the door was another large room.

It was empty, save for the gigantic flower like plant hanging from the ceiling. It swung vines in all directions. On the far side of the room, I could see the dried up, withered bodies of victims that this thing made meals out of.

I picked the wrong time to ignore my instincts.

"Rebecca, run!"

I tried to follow behind her through the double doors. There was a mess of vines obstructing the door.

Now I knew why I couldn't open it from the other side.

Reaching for knife, I was ready to slice through the vines, but I felt my legs pinwheel in the air. There was a tight, suffocating feeling around my torso. I looked down to see that the plant had snatched me up, looking to make a meal out of me.

I sunk my knife into the vine and the flower part of the plant opened up its petals, revealing a horrifying sight: a pit filled with bodies that were digested by a foul acid.

The plant was ready to throw me in next.

"Chris!"

I reached into my pocket and threw the file down to the floor. "Rebecca…use that file!"

She quickly reached for the file before one of the vines missed snatching her up. "I won't leave you, Chris!"

"You have to!" I said, feeling the vine constricting tighter on my body. "It's...it's the only way!"

"But-,"

"Just go, dammit!"

I didn't know whether it was the tone of my voice or the weight of the situation, but Rebecca took off running. The plant seemed to sense her movement and tried to track her to the door. Seemingly distracted, I used the momentary lapse to get a better grip on my knife and came down hard on the vine, cutting it enough to be released from its boa-like grasp. A thick, purple fluid "bled" out from the opening and my knife melted almost instantly in it.

Any closer and that could have been my hand.

I dropped down to my feet and pulled out the Remington. I was certain that 9mm rounds just wouldn't cut it against a foe like this.

Now I had to find a safe spot to get off a shot. The entire room was about the size of a basketball arena and the plant took up almost every inch. I spotted a small balcony behind the plant and ran for it. Dodging streams of acid and whipping vines, I safely managed to make it to the staircase. At the foot of the stairs was a deceased lab worker who was dried up like a prune. However, in his hand I saw what looked like a gun that was covered in a mucky, green slime. I pried it loose from his dead fingers and if not for the man-eating plant trying to kill me, I would have jumped for joy at finding a .357 Magnum revolver…that just happened to be fully loaded.

The guy was a scientist, not a marksman.

Even with all the slime, I slid the hand cannon into my boot and jumped all the way up to the top of the balcony.

The plant made a sickening sound as it turned to face me on the balcony. I could smell the acid ravaged flesh coming from within its petals as it readied itself to spray acid on me.

In a flash, a stream of burning, purple liquid just missed where my head was just a second earlier. I pumped a shell into the breech of the Remington and pulled the trigger. The buckshot hit in the middle of the opening, causing the plant to sway violently. The ceiling began to weather and crack from the immense weight and force of the plant.

Either my eyes were deceiving me or I heard the plant cry out in pain after I landed a direct hit inside of its petals.

That might explain the excessive aggression I read about in the file. It had to be a weak spot…

8

After loading in my last shell, I was cramping up from all the evasive maneuvers I used to escape certain death. I was more worried if Rebecca was all right than if she had managed to make the formula. The plant ferociously whipped me from behind, knocking my shotgun from my grasp. I watched the Remington clatter to the other side of the room, far from my reach.

There was nowhere for me to go now. I tried to make a break for the double door anyway and was snatched up by the ankle by one of the vines. The plant held me upside-down and I was defenseless. The same double doors I tried mightily to run through suddenly burst open.

Boy, was I happy to see Richard again.

"Chris! Hold on!"

Strapped to his back was a double-barreled canteen of fuel attached to a flamethrower.

I didn't even want to think where he found it.

"Eat this!" he shrieked as he fired a hot stream of flame at the plant. Its vines easily caught fire and the fire tracked its way up toward the flower-like head. With a douse of acid, the plant put the fire out. Its charred vine fell to the floor with a heavy, wet thud. In its place, a whole new vine grew out.

"What the hell? What kind of plant is this?" Richard asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Richard, get me down!"

"You got it, Chris!"

He aimed the flamethrower toward the vine I was ensnared in, but before he could launch it, a vine snuck up behind him and trapped him its coils. He fought to break free, but the plant was too strong.

"Dammit, Chris. I thought I had it."

I didn't have much of a response to mutter as the plant was moving me in the direction of its "mouth". As the petals opened, I could feel the grip around my ankle loosening, as I got closer to it.

All the excitement made it hungry.

I didn't want to prematurely fall in, but the way things were looking, I had no escape. The plant was on the verge of lowering me in when it suddenly released me. I crashed hard on my shoulder on the hardwood floor. The pain that shot through my side was sharp, but it beat being plant food.

I looked around to find Richard also on the floor. We both looked up at the plant as it lashed its vines aimlessly in all directions. Its petals and leaves started changing into a hot red color and within moments, it started to shrivel up.

What was once a large, carnivorous plant that was the size of small building was now nothing more than dried up, worthless shrub.

Rebecca came through for us.

I tended to my sore shoulder as Richard walked up to me. He unstrapped the now useless flamethrower off his back and tossed it to the floor. He gave me a friendly smile as he dropped down to one knee next to me.

"You okay, Chris?"

"I'll live. How's your head?"

"It's been better," he replied. He wiped some of the blood that was on his forehead from where he hit the floor.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Rebecca happened."

"Rebecca? She did this?"

"Yeah," I said as I winced. "She made some chemical that could kill that thing faster than bullets could."

"Nice," he said. "Just when I thought this place couldn't get any crazier."

"Thanks by the way. That's two I owe you."

"Don't worry about it," he said, modestly. "I was looking for you to tell you that I got in contact with Brad."

"Really? I never thought I'd be happy to hear his name. Where is he?"

"He's still hovering around over the forest. He said for us to meet him on some high ground because he's running low on fuel."

"Shit," I said. "I still haven't found Jill or Barry. They've got to be alive. I just know it."

"What about Wesker? You didn't say anything about him."

"That's because I ran into him. He's still alive."

"Considering that he's the weirdest guy I know, I'm not surprised," Richard said jokingly. He then stood up and gave me a hand to help me up. As I got back to my feet, Rebecca came barreling through the double doors.

"Chris! I thought I was too late," she said as she ran to me and hugged me tightly.

"You were just in time, actually."

She then turned to Richard. She hugged him also and pulled away from him to step in between us. "While I was downstairs, I came across a locked room and found some interesting notes."

"What did you find?" I asked.

"One of the researchers here left detailed information on the experiments that took place. There was a lot of stuff on the T-Virus, but most of the notes were destroyed by the water."

I rubbed my shoulder unconsciously, trying to work the soreness out of it. "Were you able to get anything useful out of what was left?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. The T-Virus is a mutagenic virus that was developed by Umbrella."

"Umbrella?" said Richard.

"Yeah. The virus is capable of mutating and altering the DNA of its host. That's what happened to the plant and the big spiders."

"What about the humans?" I asked. "Why do they look like zombies?"

"I'm only guessing here because I didn't get any of that kind of information in the file, but I believe that the T-Virus destroys the human cells because of the complexity of the genomes."

"Umm…how about saying that in English, please?"

"Oh my gosh, Chris," she wheezed. "Okay…okay, umm...when a human is infected with the T-Virus, their cells eventually break down. That's why the humans have the rotted flesh and pallor. Dogs have similar genetic structures to us, so its possible that they're are not the most suitable hosts either. At least not for the long term."

"Why would anyone even create this virus?"

"This virus was probably created as a weapon, if you ask me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Remember when we read that note and we came across the term 'B.O.W.'?"

"I remember. What about it?"

"Well, a B.O.W. is a Bio Organic Weapon, based on what I could get out of this report. Whatever Umbrella was planning with these creatures, it must have been something big."

Richard had been pacing around the room in deep thought while Rebecca was filling me on her find. He finally rejoined us after his deliberation. "I just thought of something. I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Wait! Where are you going?" I asked.

"Just going to follow up on something I should have before. Don't worry, Chris. I'll be fine."

Before he turned to leave out, he handed me a case of shells. "Thought you might need these after this whole plant debacle."

"Thanks, Richard. Are you sure you'll be okay alone?"

"Yeah," he said reassuringly. "Contact me on the radio if anything happens."

Richard quickly made his way out through the double doors, leaving Rebecca and me in his wake.

"What now?" Rebecca asked. "You think we should go back to the mansion?"

"Right now it seems to be our only choice," I said grudgingly.

"You go on ahead then. I'm going to stay here and gather some materials from the chemical room."

"All right. The path back to the mansion should be clear, but be careful."

"You got it, Chris."

Rebecca and I both walked out through the double doors and she gave me a wave as she disappeared inside the chemical room. I went to move toward the exit when I heard gunshots coming from the other side of the door. As I went through, the muzzle flash of a Beretta came from around the corner to my left. I jogged quickly to the corner, only to find Wesker dropping two zombies.

"Wesker!"

He quickly turned around. For the first time since I've known him, he appeared to show emotion in his features.

He looked surprised to see me.

"Chris…you're alive." The surprise was as much in his voice as it was his face.

Something certainly didn't feel right.

"My thoughts exactly. Any luck finding Jill? Or Barry?"

"I was able to find Jill back at the mansion," he said dryly. "We decided that it was best that we split up to find the rest of you."

"If she's there, then I've got to go after her."

"Chris, if you decide to go back, you're going to need this." He held a key in his hand. There was an engraving of a helmet on it.

"There are still rooms in that mansion that have yet to be explored. I want you to check them out and report back to me."

"You got it," I said. "Hey, Wesker…I've got some news."

"What is it?"

"During my investigation, I had come across research files for some kind of viral weapon. I think Umbrella might be behind it."

"Hmm…interesting," he said thoughtfully. "I'll continue to investigate your lead, Chris. You go back to mansion and report anything you find."

"Yes, sir."

I took the key from Wesker and stuffed it into my vest. I quickly left the dormitory and crossed back through the courtyard. It wasn't until I saw the waterfall that I remembered that there was a passageway behind it. I had to somehow find a way to stop the water from flowing without having to go through that giant cesspool.

I had spotted some spent shell casings on the ground and saw that the dogs that Rebecca and I snuck past earlier had all been killed. The casings, however, were not 9mm rounds.

They were .44 caliber.

The only person I knew with that kind of firepower was Barry.

He was close by…

9

Before I returned to the mansion, I decided to go to the other side of the courtyard and check out what was there. I didn't find anything but another lift. The lift was inoperative though. There was no power going to it at all. There was a space in the wall next to the lift that was shaped like a square.

A battery perhaps?

I wasn't sure where I was going to find one, but if I wanted to investigate that tunnel on the other side of that waterfall, I was going to need this lift to work. I turned my attention back to the task at hand and proceeded back to the mansion. I walked in through the back door, but not before I heard a strange banging come from behind me. It was as if something plowed through the door with incredible force and even greater speed.

Instinctively, I clutched my shotgun tightly when an angry, high-pitched squeal echoed through the mansion.

A squeal followed by a sound of wet toes tapping on the hardwood floor.

From around the corner came a creature I had yet to encounter. Covered in green, slimy scales, I was faced with something straight out of a horror movie. Its claws were big enough to squeeze my head into pulp. Rows of yellowed, jagged teeth in its mouth that released the familiar odor of rotted flesh. The creature walked on two legs, like a human, but moved with unearthly quickness. It launched itself into the air, readying its claws to attack. I had only a moment to spare before my head would be found rolling on the floor.

Squeezing the trigger of the Remington, a spray of blood landed on my vest, but the creature looked unfazed by the direct shot. It landed about a foot in front of me, dark red blood, oozing out from where I shot it. It attacked me again by swiping its massive claws at my legs. One of the claws managed to get me, right in the thigh. I stumbled from the creature's quickness and power, trying to block out the pain that I was feeling. My blood was now trickling down to the floor and that only seemed to incite more crazed behavior.

I took a step back as the creature moved on me slowly, as if stalking me like prey. It then launched itself again in the air, going in for the kill.

I was ready this time.

Composing myself for a quality shot, I aimed the Remington at its head and squeezed the trigger. A sickening explosion of flesh erupted in the hallway as the creature fell down to the floor faster than it leaped. It twitched for a moment before it ceased to move any further. I reluctantly took a step forward at its carcass, trying to make sense of what just attacked me. It looked like a cross between a reptile and an overgrown gorilla. It most certainly had to be one of the B.O.W.s Rebecca warned me about. Whatever it was, it was much more formidable than any zombie. If there were more of them around, I had to be ready to run. I wasn't likely to get another shot like that again.

I pushed through the door with the broken knob, surprised that it opened rather easily. The hallway was quiet and there wasn't an enemy in sight. As I entered the clearing by the staircase, there was a sheet of paper near the supply room. I pulled it off the wall and read it:

"I have managed to find ammunition and rations throughout the mansion and have stored them in the room to the right. There are also medicinal supplies in case you have sustained injury. The door that leads to the back of the mansion is also repaired, in case you run into any trouble. Although things look grim, I have full confidence in you, Chris. After all, you're one of my best men."

-Wesker

He may have had his quirks about him, but Wesker was certainly thorough. I opened the door and sure enough, there was ammo laid out on the floor as if we were at a flea market. Bypassing the ammo for the moment, I picked up one of the meal rations and tore into it hungrily. I normally hated fish, but I was in no position to complain now. The potatoes were cold and the carrots soggy, but the ration hit the spot.

I felt a renewed sense of vigor overcome me as I counted the ammo: Three 9mm magazines, another box of shells and a used med kit. I popped it open and was relieved to find disinfectant. I rolled down my pants and applied some to where that hideous creature scratched me and then wrapped a piece of bandage around it. I hadn't realized how much blood I had lost until I took my pants down. It was a good thing that the cut wasn't as deep as I feared.

Pulling my pants back up, I gathered all the items Wesker left behind for me and left the room. Right upstairs was a door that was locked that I needed the helmet key to open. As I walked to the door, a thought popped into my head that stopped me in my tracks.

If Wesker had the key, why didn't he just unlock the door himself and investigate?

A question that certainly deserved consideration. If I wasted anymore time thinking about it, I wouldn't make any progress. I ignored my inner thoughts for the time being and unlocked the door. Inside, there was a room fixed with a glimmering marble floor that was very slippery. I took my time walking over it as I reached the center of the room. There, I found a small box that was fitted firmly into the desk it sat on. I opened up the box and found a black and red chessboard inside. All the pieces were on the board, but not in any order. Some of the black pieces were mixed with the white as well as other pieces not being in their proper spots.

I wasn't a great chess player by any means, but I at least knew where the pieces went. I first went to reach for one of the black pawns, noticing a red base on the bottom of it. I picked up a white pawn and saw that this one too had a red base.

Things never were simple.

I scooped up both of the white rooks and saw that one piece was red on the bottom and the other was black. I cursed myself for thinking anything in this pace was conventional. The puzzle was designed to have alternating color pieces on alternating color spots on the board. I quickly lined up the pieces where they "belonged", finishing by putting down the black King.

A few moments after I did that, a painting on the wall in the back suddenly fell off. I walked over to it and found that there was something hidden behind it. I reached inside and pulled out another electronic disc. It was the same as the other one I found. There was a marking if "MO Disc 2" on it. If someone was really going through all of this effort to keep these disc away from prying eyes, then I had to know what was on them.

After I took the disc out from the wall, the wall itself slid along the floor, revealing a switchboard and an elevator. The switchboard looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. I carefully pulled the lever down and a blue light appeared on the switchboard. There was a slight rumble coming from the elevator before the doors fanned open. I stepped inside and studied the buttons. There were three buttons: First Floor, Second Floor and Library. I was certain that this was the inoperative elevator I came across by the kitchen downstairs when I first got here. I hit the button for the library and the doors slowly shut. I tried to hold my breath to keep myself from inhaling the raunchy smell of death that got stronger as I got closer to my stop. The doors opened up and before I could allow my eyes to adjust to the new area, I was immediately attacked by another one of those strange, reptilian creatures. Barely escaping its razor sharp claws, I dived out of the elevator and hit the floor hard. The creature pounced on me the moment I got back up, pinning me down under its incredible weight. It began drooling sickly saliva, which hung unceremoniously in front of my eyes. I used my arms to keep it bay, but it was only a matter of time before they would give. Unable to use my gun, I raised my leg up from underneath it and held it there for a moment so that I could unsheathe my emergency knife.

A panicked yelp came out of its mouth when I jammed my serrated blade right into its temple. It swung its claws wildly at the air, taking steps back to gather itself. I readied my Beretta while the creature was stunned and aimed at its head.

I was happy that marksmanship came so easy to me.

Squeezing the trigger three times, the left side of the creature's head was obliterated by my gunfire, dropping it down to the floor. I walked over to the now dead B.O.W. and planted my boot on its broad chest. I plucked my knife from out of the creature's head and placed it back in my boot. I was fortunate enough to not come away with any injury this time around.

With the immediate danger disposed of, I got a chance to survey the uppermost floor of the mansion. Ahead of me was a set of black double doors. I pushed them open and walked into the main library. There were dozens of bookshelves in the library, covered in thick webbing. I spotted the body of one of the researchers, webbed up tightly against the window. It appeared that his eyes had been taken out and was missing an arm.

I just hoped he was already dead before any of that happened.

The moonlight coming from outside cast a soft glow in the darkened parts of the library, giving it an eerie feel. There wasn't any other exit besides the one that I came through and coming here felt like a waste of time. As I turned to leave, the bookshelf that was nearest the exit collapsed in front of the door, blocking me from leaving.

The sound of a soft yawn came from the other side of the library. It surely didn't sound like a yawn that came from any human.

This time, though, I was ready.

The same giant snake that almost killed Richard came back for round two. It knocked shelves over as it tried to attack me. I ducked out of the way of its massive jaws and rolled over to the other side of it. The snake wasn't moving as quickly as it was before, but it was still extremely dangerous. As it got more into the light, I could see blood trailing on the floor behind it as it slithered across the floor.

As Richard had done during our last run in, I aimed for the pulsing tumors on its body. I destroyed them with ease. It was apparent now that snake was in a weakened position.

That didn't mean I was going to go easy on it.

I continued to unload shell after shell to its head and the snake got into a frenzy. It ferociously knocked one of the bookshelves with the tail end of its body down to the ground, pinning me against the wall. Even in its weakened condition, it could still kill me easily. I squeezed the trigger of the Remington and nothing came out but a click.

Dammit! I lost my shot count!

When I felt that the snake was going to get me for sure this time, a splatter of acid hit the snake in the head, melting its scaly flesh. With it stunned, I jumped out from behind the fallen bookshelf and saw Richard behind the snake with a crazed look in his eyes. The snake slowly turned around and tried to attack Richard, but he was waiting patiently. He slowly raised his shotgun and slammed a final buckshot to its head, dropping the enormous snake for the last time.

"Now we're even you overgrown suitcase!" Richard said, spitting on the carcass of the snake. He came over to me and gave me a hand back to my feet. "You always seem to get yourself in these tough spots, Chris."

"Thanks again," I said. "If I keep this up, I'm going to run out of saves for sure."

A set of footsteps slowly approached me from behind.

Methodical.

Purposeful.

"I would have never thought that you had nine lives, Chris."

That voice.

That perfume.

It couldn't have been.

I turned around to match the face to the voice. "Jill!"

Before giving her the chance, I hugged her tightly, holding her body close to mine for only an instant. An instant that felt like an eternity. "I'm glad you're alive!"

Her vest was torn at the shoulder and she sported a bandage around her right triceps. It shouldn't have been any surprise that she endured the same hell as the rest of us.

"Things got crazy the moment you left us," she said. "Out of nowhere, more of those zombie dogs attacked us. Wesker tried to fend them off, but we took off running instead."

I guess he wasn't lying after all.

I reached into my holster and pulled out Jill's Beretta. "I believe this belongs to you."

She looked at the gun thoughtfully. "Thanks, but you keep it. I like the buddy system I have with this," she said, brandishing a S.T.A.R.S. issued bazooka. The only person on the team that carried one of those was Forest. I figured that Jill must have beaten me to his body.

"Wesker told me that you were here still, so I came back for you."

Jill furrowed her brow as if she was confused. "That's odd. He never mentioned running into you when I last saw him."

"Looks like we were in for one hell of surprise when he got here, huh?" Richard said. He held his shotgun in one hand, tapping the barrel on his shoulder idly. "If it weren't for Chris, I would have long since been a goner."

Jill stepped closer to the disheveled remains of the giant snake, poking it with the nose of the bazooka. "What could have caused this thing to get big like this?"

"The T-Virus," Richard began to explain. "A mutagenic virus created here that somehow leaked out and caused all the mayhem we've been faced with."

"T-Virus?"

"Yeah," I said. "This place is no ordinary mansion. It's a research facility for Umbrella."

"Umbrella is behind this?" she said disbelievingly. "I thought Umbrella was nothing more than a pharmaceutical company!"

"That's what they want everyone to believe. It's been nothing but a front for their research on the T-Virus."

Jill looked at the dead snake again with a thoughtful expression on her face. "So the zombies…that's what the T-Virus does to people?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," I said. "I'm no researcher."

"Wait!" she suddenly said. "It all makes sense now."

Both Richard and I looked at her at the same time. "I came across one of those researchers who locked himself in a room. When I found him, he was alive, but had been bitten by one of the zombies."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"I went to look for something to patch him up with, but when I came back, he wasn't human anymore."

"Wait. You mean he turned into a zombie?"

"I believe so. Since you told me that this all happened because of some virus, then it makes sense that it's transmitted through a bodily fluid…like saliva from a bite."

Now that Jill shared that with me, I did remember several zombies lunging at me, but didn't think much of it. Luckily, I wasn't bitten by any of them. But, the reptilian creature did scratch me. Could the T-Virus have been transmitted that way too? If that were true, then Richard might have turned into a zombie. Apart from the blood soaked bandage on his arm, he didn't look any worse for wear.

"We need to report this to Wesker," I said. "Maybe he could make sense of all this."

"Do you have any idea where he is?" Richard asked.

"He should still be in the dormitory out back."

"How did you get there? Jill asked. "The door that leads to the back is locked."

"It was. I found some coin looking thingy that unlocked it."

"Okay. So let's go report."

I took the radio that Richard had given me earlier to report to Wesker.

"Wesker. Do you copy?"

After a long stream of static, Wesker's impassive voice filtered through the radio. "This is Wesker. I read you."

"I've located Jill and Richard. What is your current location?"

"I'm investigating the courtyard area."

"Roger that. I'm coming to meet you now. Redfield out."

After ending the transmission with Wesker, I turned to look at Richard and Jill. "Before we leave to meet with him, there is still another room that I need to investigate. We might be able to find something of use."

A small smile came over Jill's face. "Normally, I would disagree with you on that, but after everything I've witnessed here, you're absolutely right."

"I'm going wherever you guys go," Richard added.

"I think at this point, we stand a better chance if we stick together anyway. Let's move out."

We all headed back toward the entrance to the library, but something caught my eye in one of the fallen over bookshelves. Most of the books here were encyclopedias and other research material, but a book marked "The Lone Wolf" caught my attention. Maybe it was the cover that allured my eyes: A metallic blue, hardcover book with a shiny finish.

I picked the book up and opened it. There were no pages. Instead, it was a finely crafted illustration of pages on the outside when in reality, it was two thick sheets of canvas that opened in the middle. There, I found a silver coin with a wolf emblem on it.

Very much like the gold one with the eagle I found earlier.

I pocketed the coin and headed out from the library.

"Where are we going now, Chris?" said Jill. She tended to her arm injury as she moved to get into the elevator. I could see blood seeping through the bandage.

"There is another room with the helmet motif downstairs on the second floor. It's the only room that I haven't checked out yet," I said. Looking at her injury again, I said, "What happened to your arm?"

"I was cut by a piece of glass. One of those dog things crashed through the window when I walked by it. What happened to your leg?"

"I was attacked by a strange creature when I came back here from the dormitory. It scratched me with its claw. Believe me when I tell you, it hurt like a bitch."

I was the last to step into the elevator, making sure our exit was secure. Richard hit the button floor the second floor and in moments we made our descent towards the last unchecked area of the house.

10

With the three of us moving through the mansion together, it was easier to mow down through zombies and those strange reptilian creatures. The more I saw them, the more I wondered what they really were before. It was just too hard to tell.

As I stood with the helmet key in my hand in front of the last remaining door, I tensed my finger around, wondering if I would find anything of use.

After turning the key in the lock, I tossed it away with the others, no longer finding a need for them. Inside the room was dark. Richard pulled in front of me and Jill and went inside. We both followed right behind him, securing the exit behind us. Jill closed the door as I searched the area near the door for any type of light switch. Once I found it, I flicked it on and now everything was in view. This room looked a lot like the office downstairs, only that it was larger and more organized.

"Find anything yet?" Richard said.

"Nothing," Jill replied. "A bunch of documents here, but nothing about research or Umbrella."

There was a painting on the wall that for some reason, looked too modern to be a part of this old mansion. I reached around to grab the edges of it and yanked it off the wall. Behind the painting was a large, black safe. Compared to rest of the mansion, it was fairly new.

I examined the safe and immediately realized that I had no chance at opening it. No amount of gunfire we had could even scratch it, let alone open it.

"Get out of the way, Chris," Jill said. "Let me see if I can open it."

Richard and I both looked at Jill with snarky grins, as we knew that Jill was a lock-picking expert. It was only a matter of time before she found the urge to be irresistible.

I moved out of Jill's way and let her get to the safe. She ran her hand over the safe, from top to bottom, as if becoming one with it. "This will be a piece of cake."

She placed her ear to the safe and began manipulating the dials. There was a look of intense focus in her eyes as she rolled the dial from left to right in a meticulous manner. After one more roll of the dial, the safe clicked and she pulled the door open. "What I tell you, Chris? No sweat."

"I didn't know that they taught that kind of stuff in the Army," I said, impressed with how efficiently she opened the safe.

She took a step back, flashing me a sly smile as she walked away from the safe. "Whoever said I learned that in the Army?"

I was definitely going to get to the bottom of that later.

I moved toward the safe to check its contents. Inside, it was larger than it looked on the outside. There were stacks of documents neatly packed into manila folders that had more information on the research that took place here. There was also another one of the black floppy discs here. As I expected, it was marked "MO Disc 3". I wasn't one to believe in coincidences, but these discs had to serve some sort of purpose. Unfortunately, none of the documents we filed through made any mention of them.

However, the biggest find inside of the safe was a dusty, lead-acid battery, stashed away towards the back of the safe. All the paperwork obscured my view of it at first glance. I reached into the back of the safe and pulled it out. It was heavy, which I should have expected, but still was surprised by the weight of it. Jill and Richard saw me pull it out as they continued to look through the files.

"What the heck do you need that for?" said Richard. "You got an ATV out back or something?"

"No. I need it for a lift in the courtyard."

"Where does it lead?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but changed course. "How about I just show you?"

Jill, Richard and myself left the mansion behind as we made our way to the courtyard. Ammo was getting low as we plowed our way through hordes of those reptilian creatures. They showed up when we least expected and always attacked in groups.

Carrying the heavy battery didn't make maneuvering any easier either, but we managed to make it back into the courtyard without getting hurt. I walked over to the lift with the battery and tucked it inside the port. After hooking up the cables, the indicator lights on the controls lit up and an almost inaudible hum rumbled in the background.

"Wait here," I said. "I'll be right back."

The two nodded as I quickly jogged my way to the pool area. After hopping over the dead carcasses of the zombie dogs, I pushed my way through the rusty gate and moved at full tilt towards the pumping station. After hitting the button marked "Fill", the open ducts lining the pool closed up and the water was cycled back into it. As it began to fill up, the same foul scent reinvaded my nostrils, causing me to gag slightly.

The sound of the waterfall on the other side of the pool ceased and I jogged back to Jill and Richard. They patiently waited for me as I joined them on the lift.

Once we made our descent, I could clearly see the opening where the water was coming down. There were some lights hung up on the ceiling and walls. I went through first with Jill following behind. Richard flanked the rear.

"I thought we were going to meet Wesker," Jill whispered. I don't think she even realized that she did.

"There's no sign of him. Knowing him, he probably went inside the tunnel once the water stopped."

"You're probably right," he said.

I took the point and Jill followed closely behind me. Richard came in last, securing the rear. The tunnel was damp with moisture and foul smelling water. Our boots kicked and sloshed through muddy looking liquid as we got deeper inside. At the end of the tunnel was a rusted door. A closer inspection revealed claw marks that knifed through the steel like paper.

Judging by the look of them, I had a pretty good idea what left them behind.

The tunnel looked l man made and the further we traveled, the warmer it felt. In the middle of July, this was the last thing that we needed. A small lamp barely lit the remainder of the tunnel when I spotted something glimmering on the floor. I picked it up and saw that it was a shaft of some sort. I'd seen these used on planes before. Whatever used it had to be powerful machinery. It may have seemed obscure, but I chose to hold on to it.

Jill tapped me on the shoulder to force my attention to another passageway to our right. "Look, Chris. There's another path. What should we do?"

"We've made the most progress finding things out when we've split up. You and Richard go through there. I'll go the other way."

"Chris, don't be foolish," Jill said. There was a hint of worry in her voice. "Those monsters are everywhere."

"I can handle myself. I'll radio you if anything comes up," I said. I walked up to her and firmly grasped her petite shoulders. "I promise."

"Just be careful."

I nodded and Jill stepped back from me. Richard had an indifferent look in his eyes. He was ready to keep moving.

"You too."

I continued my way down the darker, longer path, while the two of them headed down the other. The smell of foul water was replaced by what smelled like errant feces. I didn't even want to think about what could have made it. As I went further in, I could see more light. Making sure to watch my step along the rugged path, I made it to the source of the light.

There was a double door straight ahead and another passage way to my left. I checked the passage way to my left first and found nothing of interest but a boulder. I could see some more light coming from behind the huge rock, but I couldn't move it out of the way. I retreated back the other way when I heard something like a snap.

Then another snap, only louder.

A thundering roar made me jump and look over my shoulder at what the sound was. I barely managed to get my legs to move before that very same boulder almost flattened me on the ground. It rolled furiously down the passageway behind me. I pumped my legs as fast as I could and just barely got out of the way before being smashed to death.

The boulder crumbled from the incredible force of it hitting the unmoving double doors. I waited for the thudding in my chest to cease before I made any attempt to move. It seemed that everywhere I went, something was booby-trapped. I was fortunate enough to have gotten enough distance on the boulder. Otherwise, I wasn't so sure I'd have made it out.

With the boulder now out of the way, this was as good a time as ever to see what was behind it. I carefully clutched my Beretta in hand and eased my way towards the top of the passage. There was a bright lamp and another door. I pushed through the door and entered another dark series of passageways.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but before I could anything, the click of a handgun floated through my ears from behind me.

"Don't you move any further, Chris!"

I froze in my tracks, afraid for some reason to turn around. But the voice was very strikingly familiar.

"Drop your weapons and kick them away."

I complied with the order and dropped my Beretta to the ground. I then unslung my Remington off my shoulders and propped it down.

"What is the meaning of this?" I said angrily. "We don't have time for this bullshit."

"He put you up to this, didn't he?"

"He? Who are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Chris! I know everything!"

The burliness in the voice let me know exactly who I was dealing with. I slowly turned around, keeping my hands in the air before facing off with the Captain of Bravo Team.

"En...Enrico...I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean you know everything?"

As I looked into his eyes, Enrico had a rage in them that was seemingly beyond reason. His Beretta was jittering wildly in his hands as he kept it trained on me. I didn't want to make any sudden movements against him.

"That...that double-crossing piece of shit! He set us all up from the start!"

"Who are you talking about?" My voice was louder than I wanted it to be, but I was becoming frustrated with him.

"You...you really don't know, do you, Chris?" he said. The fiery rage I had seen in him slowly drained away from his face. I was now seeing the Enrico I had known.

"What's going on?"

Enrico wiped the sweat from his brow before holstering his weapon. He picked up my Beretta and Remington from off the ground and brought them to me. "I'm sorry about that. This place has me on edge. You're the first person I've seen since I last saw Chambers."

"You had me worried for a minute," I said. "I was scared that you were really going to shoot me."

"We were setup...by Wesker!"

"Wesker? How?"

"All the zombies...the monsters...it's all his doing."

"Wait," I said, putting my hand up to stop him. "How do you know that for sure?"

"When we crashed in the forest, Bravo team got separated once we were attacked by those zombie dogs. I somehow found my way into a secret, underground facility, where I found a bunch of files, linking Wesker to this place. I know he's behind it!"

I did find it odd that Wesker seemed to know the layout of the mansion a little too well, but attributed that to him always being on top of things. It was possible that he indeed know the place inside out…but I didn't know for certain.

"What did you find out?"

Enrico edged closer to me. The humidity of the tunnels made us both sweat. He seemed worse off than me though. "Umbrella owns this place...and Wesker is one of their employees. I haven't figured out yet why he brought us here, but I know he's behind it."

"Are you sure that Wesker is behind it?"

Enrico pulled out a file from his vest. It was drenched from the sweat of his body. From the file, he produced a small picture with several researchers.

One of them was wearing a dark pair of shades.

"I found this in the underground laboratory," he said, pointing to the man in shades. "I know that's him. I'd recognize that face anywhere."

The man in the picture looked a lot like Wesker, just younger. I would have thought that it was just mere coincidence…

If I actually believed in them.

"Are you alone?"

I looked at him, unsure of where he was coming from exactly. "Why do you ask?"

"That son of a bitch could be following you now," he said hastily. There was no hiding the hatred he felt for Wesker. "Quick, we've got to get to the lab."

"What's there?"

"The heliport. If we can get to it, that's how we'll make it out of here."

"Then I've got to go back for Jill and Richard," I explained. "And Rebecca is still out there."

"Rebecca?"

"Yes. She saved my life earlier and I owe it to her to get her out of here. I will not leave her behind."

"Then let's going, Chris. It's only a matter of time before he finds us."

I turned to go back the way I came when my radio siren echoed through the cave-like tunnel.

"Chris, do you copy?"

"I'm here, Jill. What's up?"

"Richard and I have found a door that is locked tight. We've tried pushing it open, but we need another set of hands."

"I'm on my way. Just hold on."

"By the way, have you been able to locate Wesker?"

"No, I haven't seen him. I'm sure he's around...somewhere."

"I've tried to radio him, but he isn't responding."

I paused for a moment, thinking back to what Enrico just shared with me. "We'll just have to move on without him."

"Okay, Chris. Hurry."

The radio went silent and I clipped back on my belt. Seemingly at a dead end, I looked to Enrico. He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he held his Beretta in hand. "It could be a trap."

"No way," I said. "Jill would never do that to us."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Be...because I know her. She wouldn't betray us."

Enrico continued to shoot me disbelieving look, but he ultimately relented. "I hope you're right, Chris."

Enrico and I made it back the way we had come in, managing to find the fork in the cave where I initially separated from Jill and Richard. It was much darker down their path then it was mine and I had no choice but to pull out the lighter. After a few turns, I felt my foot pod in something that didn't feel like earth or rock. When I brought the lighter down, it was another one of those strange reptilian creatures.

Dead.

"These things are all over the place," Enrico said in disgust. "With claws like those, they can take your head clean off."

"Believe me, I know. I've already felt them."

As we continued walking through, I saw a big metallic door in the distance.

But not before I spotted Jill and Richard standing over another one of the creatures.

Enrico and I ran over to them and gathered in front of the door. Richard and Jill were surprised to find Enrico with me, but were nonetheless happy.

"Captain!" said Richard. "You're alive!"

"My sentiments exactly!" said Enrico. He looked over to and smiled at Jill. "It's great to see that you're alive, Jill. I thought all of you were dead."

"We've all been lucky to make it this far. All we can do now is try to get the hell out of here."

I stepped up to the metal door, trying to push it open. It didn't budge.

"Any idea what's behind here?"

"I have no idea," Jill said, "but from the look of things, it seems to be the only way to go."

"In that case, let's give it a push."

The four us mounted ourselves against the door and began to push. After a mighty struggle with the weight of the door, we finally managed to get it open. On the other side, was a small chamber.

Although it wasn't very big, the entire room was bedaubed in thick, ceramic smelling, spider webs. I was barely able to make out another door opposite the one we just came through, but it was sealed off by a hefty wad of webbing.

From the ceiling, bits of loose rock and dust began to fall to the floor. Something had moved from an obscured hole in the ceiling. The little bit of light that illuminated the chamber was blanketed by a gigantic creature that shot out from the hole in the ceiling. When it landed in front of us, we launched ourselves backward, hitting the floor hard.

"What the heck is that thing?" cried Richard. He readied his shotgun, taking aim at the latest abomination we've had to face.

We were all faced with a giant, black tarantula, with fiery red eyes and vile green ooze dripping from its mandibles. The spiders I had come across in the mansion were about the size of a dog, which was big enough. This thing had to be six times bigger and more ferocious.

The spider whipped one of its forelegs at me as I was debating the best way to attack it. I was knocked down, hitting my head on the hard floor as the spider advanced on us.

Enrico stepped up with his Beretta and started unloading 9mm rounds at the armored exoskeleton of the spider. The rounds were bouncing off to no effect.

"Everyone fall back!" he barked. "This fucking thing is bulletproof!"

As I was gathering myself up off the floor, Richard stood above me, pumping shell after shell at the humungous arachnid, but it continued to advance. I took a moment to look to Jill, who was fidgeting with the bazooka. She loaded in some red shells into the breech and slammed it closed.

"Everyone get back!"

From over his shoulder, I could see Enrico's eyes widen in surprise as he noticed the bazooka being aimed in his direction. "Fire in the hole!"

Richard and Enrico hit the dirt, covering their heads as Jill let one off with the bazooka. Upon contact, the armored skeleton of the spider was set ablaze by the shell that hit it, causing the eight legged freak to cry out a shrill shriek.

Jill let off another round.

Then another.

After several direct hits by the bazooka, the spider was set on fire and its massive size played against it as it tried vainly to put the fire out on its body. The smell of its burning flesh filled the room and after a few more moments of struggle, the spider teetered over and dropped dead, burning until there was nothing but three charred up legs remaining.

Jill came over to me and helped me off the floor as I rubbed the back of my head. It was now tender from where I had hit, but I supposed that things could have been a lot worse.

Richard and Enrico came over to us, reloading their weapons as they walked. "What the...Jill, what did you do to that thing?" Richard asked.

"I had a few incendiary rounds for the bazooka that I found in the mansion. I used them to kill the smaller versions of this thing. I guess it worked on this one too," she said with a soft smile.

"Got any more of those?" I asked. "We could use them to get through that door over there."

"No. That was all I had."

I slowly walked over to the webbed over door, examining it closely. I took my knife out from my boot and with a few swipes, I was able to cut a path big enough through the webbing to open the door. The webs proved to be tough though. On the very last swipe, the blade snapped in two, rendering it useless going forward.

"Dammit," I said. "I've had that knife from my very first day with S.T.A.R.S.."

"I'll take being alive over sentiment for a replaceable knife any day," Enrico said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

11

Luckily, the rest of the tunnel system was devoid of enemies. Enrico filled Jill and Richard in on his suspicion of Wesker, which did nothing but make Jill all the more certain of her "female intuition". She never trusted him and now she had good reason. At the end of the tunnel was a lift that looked serviceable. Further investigation revealed that it indeed was working, but was missing something. There was a port cover on the dashboard that was open. Inside was a small space, fit for a cylindrical object.

Like the drive shaft I found earlier…

I searched my vest, trying to remember where I stuffed it. I found it beneath my knife sheath and placed it inside of the port. The dashboard suddenly came to life and the hum of the motor made the entire lift vibrate violently.

Richard pressed the flashing green button and the lift started to ascend. When the lift reached its stop, I realized that we were on the other side of the courtyard, behind the dormitory. I recognized the massive trees that blocked the path from my previous visit there.

As we all stepped off the lift, I walked ahead of everyone and found myself in a small garden. In the garden was a fountain that wasn't running. One look at the water and I could tell that it had been stagnant for some time. Even in the dark, there was no mistaking the plethora of mosquitoes and dead insects floating in the water.

"Hey, what is this?" I heard Jill ask.

I walked over to her on the other side of the fountain where there was an indentation. In the indentation was a motif.

Of a wolf.

I took out the wolf coin I had found in the library and placed it in the slot. There was a click, but nothing happened.

"There's another one over here, Chris," Richard said.

The next motif was that of an eagle.

For once, I wasn't surprised.

I put the eagle coin in the slot and placed it in the indentation. There was another click, but this time, the click was followed by something else.

The fountain itself rotated on its base and the water began to drain out. The sides of the fountain opened like an intricate door and revealed a stairway that led to a well constructed elevator.

"What the...an elevator?" Jill said. "Where does it lead?"

"It has to be the main entrance to the lab," Enrico said. "The one I went through is inaccessible now. I kind of blew up the elevator when those clawed creatures chased me through."

"You said the lab will lead us to the heliport, right?" I said. "We can finish off our investigation and get out to the roof to contact Brad."

"Sounds like a plan," Jill said.

"Let's go."

As we made our descent into the unknown, I couldn't help but feel that this was where everything that I had questions about would be answered. After all, this played signified everything that was Umbrella: The deception, the B.O.W.s, and Wesker. The vile research conducted here to create the ultimate bio weapon had to be one of the most insane propositions I've ever heard.

But with many big corporations, we the common consumer, know nothing of what the corporation did to get where it is.

As I stepped off the elevator, there was no mistaking that this was a lab of some sort. I was no scientist, but I knew one when I saw it. The once sterile looking lab was now doused in blood and death, not to mention that it was incredibly hot down here.

"So this is Umbrella's research facility, huh?"

"Yeah, this is the place," Enrico said. "Be careful. There are monsters everywhere."

The first door to my right was locked when I went to check it. There was a biohazard emblem above it. Whatever was in there must have been something too dangerous to leave the door unlocked. "Doesn't seem that we'll be going this way."

"We all have radios," Enrico said, "so let's split up in groups of two. Chris and I will check here while you two check the lower level."

"All right," Richard said. "Come on, Jill. Let's get out of here."

Jill and Richard disappeared down a dark staircase, leaving Enrico and I upstairs. There was another door with two glass panes above it. The glass was smeared in blood.

However, the door was unlocked.

I pushed through the door, entering a screening room. There were shelves of documents and folders that looked to not have been touched in quite some time. Some of them were caked in dust. Towards the back of the room, Enrico had a remote control in his hand, going through slides of different B.O.W.'s.

"You see all this, Chris? Umbrella is behind these monsters."

On the slides, I recognized the zombie dogs, which were coined with the name "Cerberus". With those monstrous faces, the named seemed fitting. After going through slides of other various creatures I've come across, the final slide was that of those strange reptilian creatures. According to the slide, they were known as "MA-121 Hunter ∝".

"Enrico, wait. Go back," I said. He clicked over to the next slide before I finished reading. When he did go back, I found what I thought I had seen.

"Right there! Do you see it?"

Enrico took a long look at the slide, not catching on to what I saw. "What is it?"

"At the bottom of the slide...it says the Hunter is a cross between human and reptile DNA. That means that Umbrella has been experimenting on people to create those things!"

"That damn Wesker! He's going to pay for his crimes!" Enrico barked. He slammed his fist against the projector, smashing it.

I noticed a door towards the back of the room that was halfway open. I went to go through it and Enrico followed behind. Once inside, I felt a chill run down my arms, realizing that this particular room was cold. Against the walls were dozens of cadavers hanging in plastic bags like meat. What puzzled me most about the sight was that this room did not look anything like anyplace bodies should be kept.

Whether Wesker was involved or not, the experiments were sickening.

I ignored the frigid air as I made my way toward the computer screen that illuminated the entire room.

I tapped the key and there was a code prompt that came up, informing me of a username and password that had to be inputed into the computer. I had no clue what to put in, so I ignored the prompts and headed back out.

"There's another door I saw in the far corner. I don't know if it's locked or not, but we should definitely check it out," Enrico said.

I stood there, warming my arms up before nodding in response. Following Enrico's lead, we made it to the door and went inside. The room housed four zombies. Unlike the zombies in the mansion, this group of undead were all naked. Genitalia had long since fallen off from necrosis and they looked worse than the others. Enrico dropped the zombies quickly, enabling us to continue moving forward.

On one of the desks, there was a half torn picture that caught my eye. At first glance, there was nothing particularly special about it. Just two men taking a picture in front of what looked like a cafeteria. But, when I looked closely at the men, I recognized the elder man to be Robert Frost, Joseph's uncle. Right before we left for the Arklay Mountains, Joseph said that his uncle had been real sick.

It wasn't until I found this picture that I remembered that Joseph's uncle worked for Umbrella, but I never knew to what capacity. Seeing him in the picture gave me a better idea.

Robert Frost was possibly infected with the T-Virus.

If that was true, it was likely that the virus could already be spreading through Raccoon City. All it took was one bite from an infected person to bring down the mass population.

"What you got there, Chris?" Enrico asked. His deep voice snapped me instantly from my thoughts, forcing me to look at him.

"A picture...of Frost's uncle. He worked here."

Enrico shot his eyebrow up. "If he worked for Umbrella, he didn't work here. This place was accessible to only researchers. I'm pretty certain that his uncle was not a scientist."

"We don't know that for sure."

There was a flurry of gunshots that interrupted whatever Enrico was going to say next. The shots rang from the lower level where Jill and Richard were. Enrico and I exchanged glances before hurrying out the door. We traveled down the dark stairwell and were met with incredible heat. A stark contrast from upstairs, the lower level made me feel like my clothes were on fire.

There was no sign of Jill and Richard.

Just ahead of us was a heavy set of double doors and I made a quick move towards them. Before I could touch the door, a body came flying out, knocking me down to the ground.

"Richard!" was all I heard Enrico say.

I was too stunned to see whose body it was when it hit me, but when the stars faded from my eyes and I looked up at Enrico hovering over the body, it was indeed Richard.

He wasn't moving.

I got back up on my feet and stumbled towards Enrico. Richard had a glassy look in his eyes as he lied there, unable to move. His breathing was very erratic and was fading fast. Richard's neck had an unusual bulge when I got in closer to look.

His neck was broken.

He struggled to speak, but Enrico continually silenced him, urging him to save his strength.

"You….you've got...to...help...Jill." Richard's body convulsed before his eyes locked on the ceiling.

His breathing ceased

Richard was gone.

There was no time for me to think about what could have done this to Richard. Not when a horde of creatures crawled out of the vents. At quick glance, they appeared to be human in the shadows, but when they stepped into the light, they were as far from human as one could get.

I pushed Enrico to the ground when a scythe-like arm swung for his head. These creatures looked like flies that could walk like humans. Small wings spread from their backs, creating an unnatural humming sound that irritated my ears. What was most disturbing was the muscle that threatened to explode through their skin. The muscles pulsated and were dripping a vile looking, yellow fluid.

In all, there were six of them. Human sized insects that moved with amazing quickness and clearly seemed poised to attack us. The closest one tried to eviscerate me with its arm and I barely managed to evade it by falling backward.

I was granted just enough time to get a clean shot with my Beretta. Enrico was not having good luck at the moment when one of them pounced on top of him. I let off a few rounds in his direction, nailing the creature five times in the back. The man-fly sputtered to the floor, squealing in agony. Without warning, it's body combusted and the same disgusting yellow fluid melted its remains, leaving a just a pool of yellow bile on the floor.

I felt a vice grip around my neck, hoisting me into the air. The sudden change in elevation made me feel a little woozy, but I fought to pry myself free of the man-fly. The grip was getting tighter and I could feel my neck getting twisted. I dropped one of my hands, fumbling around for anything that could free me.

My fingers ran across one of the grenades I had. I quickly plucked it from my belt and jammed it between the mandibles of the creature. It instantly dropped me to floor, trying to dislodge the grenade from its mouth. It's arms didn't permit such a move and within moments, the entire creature's head was blown apart into pieces. Once the remainder of its body hit the floor, it instantly dissolved into yellow bile, just like the last.

Now that I was back on my feet, I unhooked my shotgun and aimed at two of them that were standing close together and blasted them. The force of the Remington's blast pelted both of them and dropped them to the floor. Enrico had just dropped one, leaving only one remaining.

I took aim to kill the last one when the double door swung open and another one of them sprung out, jumping on top of me. The creature knocked my weapon from my hand. Its mandibles were just inches away from my face but was met with an unfortunate end when it was blasted from behind. Its body was knocked off of me and landed right in front of Enrico's, melting away.

I felt a pair of hands grab my arm and helped me to get up.

"Are you all right, Chris?"

I looked into Jill's eyes, relieved to see her alive, but she looked like she got into a fist fight with one of these creatures. Her vest was completely torn off and her beret was crumpled. Most notably, she had some kind of barb sticking in her forearm that she pulled out.

"I'm fine. What just happened?"

Jill took one disgusted look at the pools of yellow bile before answering before looking back at me. "These...things attacked us. They moved really quickly and got the jump on Richard. Snapped his neck before I could do anything to help him."

I could sense the dread in her voice, but I admired her will to overcome it.

Jill reached over and touched her finger to my head in such a gentle manner that I could have easily forgotten that I was fighting for my survival against zombies and mutated beasts.

"You're bleeding," she said tenderly. "It must have cut you."

"I'm...I'm fine, really. Jill, we need to get the hell out of here."

Jill nodded her head accordingly. "Before we were attacked, I found a note for some kind of computer that allows us to get into the security system and unlock the doors."

Jill handed me the note and I took look at it. It was written by John Toleman, one of Umbrella's researchers. He left the note for his girlfriend, Ada, in the event of an outbreak. Apparently, the username for the security system was his name while the password was hers.

Not very conventional, but easy to remember.

"We just came from the security office. I couldn't access the system. But, you can since you have the information."

"I'm on it," Jill said.

"Jill?"

"Yes, Chris?"

"Don't die on me."

Jill smiled before she disappeared to the upper level. I was certain that she could take care of herself after everything that happened.

12

Enrico and I continued to keep moving forward. As I went through the doors the creature had jumped out from, the source of all the heat was coming from here. Some kind of power station. Towards the back of the room, I saw a module that was lit. Jill must have turned it on.

After circling around the back, there were two doors there. One of them had a strange module that had a three slots. The other was a heavy door that was marked "Elevator B-2".

"I think this elevator will lead us out," Enrico said as he studied the panel. "I wish Jill would hurry up with the computer. Do you think she's in trouble?"

"I think she's fine," I said confidently. "Jill is a survivor."

I was engrossed by the module next to the other door. The three slots were small and it looked as if anything could fit inside them. A closer look at the door revealed that it was incredibly sturdy.

As I continued to look for some kind of clue, my radio went off, startling both me and Enrico.

"Chris, are you there? Please answer!"

It was a female voice, but it wasn't Jill.

"Rebecca? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. I've just left the mansion. I followed the trail of dead creatures through the underground tunnels. There's some kind of fountain thing here with an elevator. Did you go this way?"

I sighed in relief, thankful that Rebecca had even managed to make it that far on her own. "I did. Take the elevator down and you should run into Jill. She's in the security office."

"Okay, Chris. I'm coming down now."

Rebecca's surprisingly calm demeanor was a testament to her innate toughness. So young, yet having to endure one of the worst possible nightmares imaginable didn't faze her much.

Then it hit me.

Hearing Rebecca's voice reminded me of something that should have occurred to me sooner. Back in the mansion, I discovered a series of discs that until now, were seemingly unimportant. Dropping down to one knee, I systematically went through my vest compartments and pockets and fished out the three MO discs. The disc marked "MO Disc 1" was the first I fitted into the slot and there was an audible chime that filtered through the lock of the door followed by an unlocking mechanism.

The door was still immovable.

MO Disc 2 and 3 followed behind and once the discs were read, the diode on the module went from red to blue and the door now completely unlocked. Despite the door's weight and sturdiness, it was relatively easy to move once the lock was released.

There was a long pathway with just one other door there. Enrico and I moved down the corridor before stopping. The door had the look of a solitary prison cell.

What was is it doing in a research facility?

Through the small row of bars, I could make out the silhouette of a person, shuffling in the shadows. I wasn't sure whether it was a zombie or a living human.

"If you're human, come towards the door."

The silhouette stopped moving.

Then came towards the door.

As they came closer towards the light, I could clearly tell that it wasn't a zombie.

A massive hand snaked through the bars and grabbed me by the hem of my shirt.

"Chris! You're alive!"

"Barry?"

"How did you find me?"

I couldn't believe that we had finally found Barry. He was being held prisoner in a research facility when hordes of monsters were running loose.

"It's a long story," I said. "How did you end up here?"

Barry released his hold on my shirt, retracting his arm back into the darkness. "When we got separated, I circled around back to the courtyard. I dropped more of those zombie dogs and was hit from behind by something hard. Next thing I knew, I woke up in this shit box."

"Must have been Wesker," Enrico chimed in. "Didn't want to risk you seeing his face."

"Wesker?"

"Yeah. He lured us here to have us killed."

I could hear Barry scratching that thick mane of beard behind the door. "Why the hell would he want to do that?"

"That's what we're trying to find out."

A moment of silence befell the three of us before Barry spoke again. "Where's Jill? Is she all right?"

"She's fine," I said. "We're waiting for her to activate the security system."

I tried to open the door to Barry's cell, but the door wouldn't budge. There was big keyhole under the latch.

"Any idea where we can find the key for this door?"

"No clue," Barry said. "I hope you guys hurry though because I've got to take a crap big enough to choke a horse."

Same old Barry.

"Just hang tight, Barry. We'll be back."

Enrico and I left out to head back to the power station. The door to the elevator was now open. We quickly made our way inside. The inside of the elevator was incredibly spacious and surprisingly clean. I pressed the button marked "B-2" and the elevator began its descent. Once the elevator doors parted, there was a gate to our right that blocked off a door. The door was marked "Emergency Exit" and was fitted with another one of those large keyholes.

Down the corridor was an automatic door that opened the moment we approached it. We were quickly hit by halon gas and I covered my mouth and nose to keep from breathing it in until we reached the other door at the end.

I was blown away at the sight before me.

Giant test tubes with unidentifiable creatures, floating around in some strange liquid. It was like a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie, complete with intricate equipment that I knew that neither Enrico nor myself had any idea how to operate.

Speaking of equipment, I could hear computer keyboard strokes from the front side of the lab. A huge monitor with all sorts of weird symbols and pictures casted a shadow over the figure typing away.

Wesker.

Enrico aimed his Beretta at Wesker without so much as a second thought. "Wesker! Give it up! I know all about your plans you sick fuck!"

Wesker coolly ignored Enrico, continuing to type away as if he were the only person in the room.

"I see you've managed to find Enrico, Chris," Wesker said. "I knew I could count on you."

"What are you-,"

Bang!

A gush of blood doused the left side of my face as I watched Enrico writhe to the floor, clutching his neck, bleeding profusely from the gunshot Wesker expertly delivered.

"Kill that double...cross...ing…" Those were the last words spoken by Enrico Marini.

"You've impressed me, Chris. After all, you are one my best men."

There was something sardonic about the way he said that which made me want to strangle the life out of him.

"Since when, Wesker?" I said, furiously. "Since when has Umbrella been slipping you checks?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," he replied. A sick smile formed on his face. "I've always been with Umbrella. You see, S.T.A.R.S. was Umbrella's own...no...my guinea pigs, Chris."

"Why? Why did you do it? Why did you put us out for slaughter?"

"Look around you, Chris. The T-Virus has leaked and polluted this entire place. Unfortunately, for the sake of my personal mission, I had to give up my lovely members of S.T.A.R.S.."

The rage I felt boiling within me was on the cusp of building over. Wesker was nothing more than spineless scum.

"You killed Enrico...you killed them all...with your own...dirty hands! You son of a bitch!"

"I simply needed the combat data of the B.O.W.'s to bring back to Umbrella. You've managed to do well defending yourself from them. You make me proud."

I lunged for him out of anger and he effortlessly sidestepped me, hitting me in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Not to be outdone, I unholstered my Beretta, but Wesker planted his boot on my chest, pinning me to the ground.

"Uh uh uh. Don't even try it, Chris. I don't want you to die just yet. I have something I want to show that may be of some interest."

"Get the fuck off me you psycho!"

"Get up," he said as he forced me back onto my feet.

Wesker kept his gun trained on me as he reached over with his free hand to punch in a code on the keyboard.

An even bigger test tube that was right next to the huge monitor suddenly lit up.

Of all the monstrosities I had witnessed here, this one was far and away the most sinister.

On the outside, it looked human, but it looked to be at least ten feet tall and had a body like a professional wrestler. A monster seemingly chiseled from stone.

The resounding thud of a beating heart echoed within the tube and I could clearly see a massive heart, beating on its chest. The heart was so massive, it looked to be more of a tumor than anything else.

There was one, truly distinguishing feature that made this freak top dog. One hand was about as normal looking as a monster's hand can appear but it's other hand was a giant claw. It had to be about five times bigger than the claws on those Hunter creatures.

Wesker looked on at the creature in...awe.

"Look at it. It's magnificent!"

I had never heard Wesker speak with that much emotion. To hear him praise this unnatural creature totally made him crazy.

So crazy, that I actually felt sorry for him. Watching the man I had admired for the past two years reduced to monster loving freak was nothing but a sick joke.

I couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic Wesker truly was.

"Wesker…you're insane!" I said, laughing. He turned to me, unable to hide the scowl behind his shades.

"Behold the Tyrant," he said with pride. "The ultimate bio weapon!"

He then pressed another key and the fluid that the monster was suspended in was slowly draining out of from the tube. The beating heart was now more audible.

Wesker leaned up against the glass of the tube, as if awaiting some sick type of affection from the monster.

The Tyrant's soulless eyes shot open and in a flash, swung its claw arm right through the tube, impaling Wesker.

"Nooo!" he screamed as he vainly tried to separate himself from the claw. Wesker's blood was dripping wildly from the Tyrant's claw. "Pre…premature!"

The Tyrant discarded Wesker's body like a bothersome fly as it hit the floor with an unforgiving thud. I backed up as fast as I could once the Tyrant turned its attention to me. Its lipless face made it feel like death was on the verge of claiming me.

But I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Not even to a monster like this.

The Tyrant began to make its move, swinging its claw arm at me. I leapt out of the way to avoid the same fate as Wesker. I managed to free the shotgun from its sling and pulled the trigger.

Click...click.

Shit.

I didn't realize I used the last of the shells on those man-flies earlier. There was no way I could take down the Tyrant with a Beretta. I had no place to run or hide from this thing. It took another swing at me and I was knocked back by a backhanded swipe of its claw. Floored by the impact, I felt something press hard against my thigh. It was then that I saw the chrome finish of the .357 Magnum I had found in the guardhouse.

I had forgotten that I was even carrying it. It was a weapon that would certainly make Barry proud.

Before I could take it from its holster, its "normal" hand shot out like a dart, grasping me by the throat, hoisting me in midair. I shouldn't have been surprised that the Tyrant had impossible strength. It's grip was strong enough to break my neck ten times over with minimal effort.

I tried to pry its fingers off me, but it's strength was too great. Each breath I took was shallower than the last. The room started to go black on me as my strength faded.

Then Claire's face popped into waning consciousness.

"Chris. Don't leave me. You promised that no matter what, you would always be there for me. You never break your promises. Don't start now…"

The look on my sister's face if I were to die was worse than death itself. I couldn't begin to imagine how Claire would take that. I was far from perfect, but the one thing I never wanted to was let my sister down.

My eyes shot open and my body was engorged by a renewed sense of vigor. The Tyrant still had the same, ugly, menacing face and I reached for the last grenade on my belt and unhooked the pin. I tossed it by its feet and the Tyrant was seemingly unaware of what I had done.

Hurry and blow up already you fucking grenade!

The Tyrant's grip on my neck loosened once it absorbed the brunt of the booming explosion that brought it down to one knee. I landed on my feet and while it was down, I delivered a straight punch, right to the side its head.

It was like hitting steel.

Had I punched any harder, I would have shattered my wrist. The Tyrant was still down, however, and I used this time to get some space. I ran to the automatic door, but it wouldn't open.

Great. Just my luck!

Th Tyrant's release from its tube must have set off a locking mechanism to keep it from getting out.

By the time I turned around, not only had it gotten back on its feet, it was closing the gap between us quickly. Aiming carefully with the Magnum, I fired on the tumor-like heart hanging off its chest. Blood spewed out of it like a fountain, but the Tyrant kept advancing. Each shot staggered it, but it kept moving. This revolver only held six rounds and I was closing in on the last one.

I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger for the sixth time and the Tyrant swung its claw wildly, striking the utility box on the wall. The surge of electricity coursed through its massive body before it collapsed to the ground.

Tyrant was down and not getting up anymore.

Any creature that could take a full load of Magnum rounds at such close range and keep walking was definitely a monster.

Tapping the Tyrant with my foot, I was assured it was down when it didn't move while I stepped over it. I went over to Wesker's corpse and searched it for anything that could help me get out of here.

In his vest, I found a large black key with the word "Master" engraved on it.

There was a keyhole on the console that Wesker was typing at and once I put the key in, the automatic door unlocked. I quickly ran out of the room, taking one last look at Enrico before leaving.

"Jill, this is Chris. Do you copy?"

There was static on the other end for what seemed like forever. I became nervous when Jill didn't respond.

"Jill, I repeat, this is Chris. Do you copy?"

More static.

I couldn't stand around and wait for her to answer me. I jumped back on the elevator and headed back to the power room. With no more ammunition for the shotgun or magnum, I would have to make a run for it if I came across any B.O.W.'s. Running down the corridor where Barry was locked up, I quickly slipped the master key into the lock and opened the door. Barry stepped out from the darkness with a grin on his face.

"Took you long enough, Redfield. I almost crapped my pants."

"I told you that I'd be back for you," I said. "Come on. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Where's Jill?"

"I've tried to radio her, but she isn't responding."

"What are we going to do. We can't just leave her!"

"Believe me. I don't want to leave her, but we've got to get topside and try to contact Brad. It's our only chance."

"THE SELF DESTRUCT SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. ALL PERSONNEL MUST EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. DEACTIVATING AND RELEASING ALL LOCKS."

The PA system of the facility echoed loudly as I spoke to Barry.

"Shit! Wesker's trying to blow us to hell!" Barry shrieked.

"I seriously doubt that. He's dead."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. Let's go!"

The PA announcement continually repeated as we made our way back to the elevator. After the descent, I saw that the gate blocking the door to the emergency exit was not there anymore. There was no need for the master key now. All the doors in the facility were unlocked now.

After tossing the key and going through the exit, there was a long pathway with a sign above that read "Heliport Pad". I quickly sprinted towards the other end, where there was another elevator. I hit the call button and waited for it to come down.

In the distance, the cries of the man-flies reached us down the corridor as we awaited the elevator.

"Oh shit," I said. "We've got company."

Barry, who didn't look the least bit worried, pulled out his custom .44 Colt Anaconda from his holster and checked to make sure it was fully loaded.

"You go and contact Brad. I'll hold off these motherfuckers!"

"But-,"

"Do it, Chris! Get going!"

There was no sense in arguing with Barry. He was a stubborn as they came. He ran back down the corridor, engaging the monsters that threatened our escape. The elevator finally came down and I jumped in. The moment I pressed the button for the heliport, the elevator shook violently.

"TEN MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION..."

In ten minutes, this entire facility was going to be blown off the face of the earth and I had to rely on Chickenheart to bail me out.

I couldn't have made up a story like that, even if I tried.

It took a moment to reach the heliport, but once I got there, there was a case filled with flares next to the elevator. I lit up a flare and watched it launch into the early morning sky. It exploded into a bright orange flash and I knew there was no way that Brad could miss it.

I hadn't realized that the elevator had gone back down after I had gotten off it. The doors to elevator reopened and Barry came out.

Behind him were Jill and Rebecca.

"Jill! Rebecca! You made it!"

"Was there ever any doubt," Rebecca said with a wink.

"Of course not," I said modestly.

"We can kiss and make up later," Jill interjected. "We need to get out of here first."

In the distance, I could hear the sound of a helicopter engine roaring above, but I couldn't see it just yet.

"I think our prayers have been answered," said Barry. "That ol' shit turd Brad is coming for us."

There was no time for us to get comfortable.

The entire heliport began to shake.

There was a loud crack that quietly erupted beneath our feet.

Then another.

And another.

From behind us, the ground exploded into flying chunks of concrete and debris as a massive shadow towered over us.

"What the fuck is that?" Barry said.

"Everyone get back!" I ordered. "That thing is extremely dangerous!"

"No shit!" Jill said. "Thanks for the warning!"

The Tyrant was back and seemed even stronger than last time. How it managed to shrug off six magnum rounds and electrocution was beyond me. My only weapon was my Beretta, but I liked my odds a little more with Barry's hand cannon on deck, not to mention the extra firepower that Jill and Rebecca brought along.

Barry took the first shot, hitting the Tyrant in the back. The powerful .44 round hardly drew any blood from the Tyrant. In one graceful sweep, the Tyrant used its claw hand and smacked Barry down to the ground hard. Jill, Rebecca, and myself fired on the Tyrant, pissing it off more than actually hurting it.

It took swipes at us, but we were each lucky enough to evade it. The helicopter was coming closer and I could finally see it slicing through the clouds at high speed. The Tyrant looked up at the helicopter for the briefest instant before drawing its ire back on us. Jill and Rebecca continued to draw the Tyrant with their fire as I shot it in the back.

The helicopter hovered over the heliport. The blades cutting the air around us as the dust and loose debris were being kicked up.

I heard the door slide open and saw Brad with something in his hand before tossing it down.

"Chris! Use this!" he said. "Kill it! Whatever it is!"

Hitting the ground was an M66 Rocket launcher. I quickly picked it up and hoisted it on my shoulder. This monster was tough, but I didn't think it could take this.

"Everybody hit the dirt!" I barked as a set the sights of the scope on the Tyrant.

Staring at me with its lipless grin, I pulled back the trigger once the crosshairs locked on its ragged face. Jill, Barry and Rebecca dropped to the ground, covering their heads as the rocket collided with the charging Tyrant. The explosion was so powerful that it knocked me back about ten feet onto my back. When I looked up, there was nothing there but the smoldering remains of Umbrella's greatest weapon.

I hope it was all worth it, Wesker. Your Tyrant will be joining you in hell.

"THREE MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION"

Seemingly never being able to catch a break, I waved my arms for Brad to descend. He quickly brought the helicopter down when he saw the Tyrant was no more. I allowed everyone to board before me as I took one last look at this place.

No matter what happened after today, the Arklay Mountains was forever etched in my mind.

As we got a good enough distance away, we all witnessed the mansion exploding in one massive fireball. The research facility, the courtyard, the underground tunnels and the dormitory all nothing more than a memory now.

13

The rear window of the helicopter provided me with a clear view of what was left of the Arklay Estate.

Absolutely nothing.

Whatever monstrosity dwelled in that forsaken place was burned to hell along with Wesker.

Dawn had come up on us and I was able to finally take a breather for a minute. Rebecca was fast asleep on the chopper floor, snoring lightly. I could only imagine how draining this experience was for her.

Even though we all lived the same nightmare.

Barry sat up front with Brad, telling him about how he almost shit himself, but the Tyrant made him change his mind about using the bathroom.

The cab of the chopper was as calm as one could one want after our tenuous ordeal. Jill rested her head peacefully on my shoulder as I stared out into the morning sky. Through it all, I could still smell traces of Jill's perfume.

Serenity was a stark contrast compared to nightmare we all just lived, yet I felt that everything that we faced was just the beginning of things to come.

"Oh, okay," I said, sipping on a cup of coffee. "So it was you that set off the self destruct at the lab?"

"Yup," replied Rebecca. "I met up with Jill and we were able to override the security code. I think Wesker had it blocked somehow."

"No surprise there," I bitterly said.

Jill sat at her desk, typing something up on her computer. Her ragged S.T.A.R.S. uniform was an absolute mess yet it was somehow fitting for the hell we had just faced.

I walked over and sat on the edge of her desk, wincing a bit after forgetting again where the Hunter had clawed me.

"What are you working on?"

"Chief Irons wants a full report."

"Are you going to tell him everything that happened?"

Jill flashed me a sly grin before turning her attention back to her computer. "Chief Irons only needs to know what we want him to."

Coming back from the largest documented explosion in the history of Raccoon City, alive, left many questions for the R.P.D.. Chief Irons was not pleased.

To hell with him anyway.

The one good thing I got out of all the press was meeting Anna Montoya in person. Off camera, she was very personable, but after meeting her, I realized she was a bit too nosey. Considering that she was a news reporter, it should have been expected, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed. After all, she was the only reason why I watched the news. After my sit down with her about the incident, I thought it was best not to bring any additional press to the R.P.D..

None of us mentioned anything about Wesker or his involvement with Umbrella. It would raise too many questions that neither S.T.A.R.S. or Chief Irons would have answers to.

On my desk was a picture of Claire and me, holding up a large bass on a fishing trip we went on a fews years back. Every time I looked at it, I couldn't help but smile. Moments like those were worth fighting for to protect our world from terrorists like Wesker and Umbrella.

They will get what was coming to them.

I promise.


End file.
